Trusting Fate
by alb925
Summary: A year after the war ends, Fred meets a mysterious girl when she comes into the joke shop. He is drawn to her, and she seems familiar, but he doesn't know who she is. Can he find out, win her heart, and learn her secrets?
1. Chapter 1

_"I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you." **-I'm With You **_**(Avril Lavigne)**

* * *

><p>"It's as good as new, George," Fred said with a grin as they stood in the middle of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, surveying the newly repaired shop.<p>

It had been two months since the war had ended; two months since Harry had finished off Voldemort. Fred and George had returned to their shop to find it practically in ruins. The shelves had been nearly bare while boxes, papers, glass, dust, and broken products littered the floor. The window had been broken and the money in the cash register was gone. The flat hadn't been much better. Furniture had been overturned, and a lamp broken, as well as a window.

The entire family, in addition to Harry and Hermione had helped to repair both the shop and the flat. It had been thoroughly cleaned, the products replenished and restocked, and the broken window repaired.

"I wasn't sure the day would ever come where we were finally ready to reopen," George answered, walking over to the window and looking out onto Diagon Alley. Customers were already gathering outside, waiting for the store to officially open for the first time in months.

"I'm excited to finally be back here. I missed it," Fred sighed, joining his twin at the window. "I don't know what I would have done if it had been beyond repair or if we couldn't have come back, if we had lost it all."

Fred saw George glance at him and he knew what he was thinking. "George," he sighed. "What did I tell you? No looking back. That incident is in the past now."

"I can't just forget it, Fred," George said. "You almost died. If that wall had exploded one second earlier, you would be gone. I almost lost you, never mind the store."

"Funny how a second can make such a difference," Fred said quietly. "I moved out of the way just in time."

"Not completely out of the way," George said, still looking out of the window.

"So a part of the wall fell on my leg," Fred shrugged. "My leg broke, it was healed, no real harm done. At least I was out of the direct line of impact."

"Who exactly healed your leg? Harry told me someone healed it right there and it wasn't Madame Pomfrey. The dust had been too thick too see through, according to him and we never really talked about it much."

Fred shrugged. "I don't know who it was. Like Harry said, there was a lot of dust, and I was struggling to stay focused from all of the pain. I just remember someone healing my leg."

"Well, if we ever find out who they are I'm going to hug the life out of them and give them a gift basket of joke products. If it's a girl, I would even propose to her, if I weren't already dating Katie," George said, turning to smile at Fred.

Fred smiled back. "What if it actually turns out to be a boy?"

"I'll still hug the life out of him and give him a gift basket. Whoever it was, they helped you and I owe them."

Fred patted George on the shoulder. He understood where his twin was coming from. If the roles were reversed, Fred would have been thinking the same way.

"It's time," he said with a smile, tilting his head towards the front door.

Verity came out of the back room and took her place at the cash register. Fred walked over to lean up against the counter while George went to unlock the doors. The crowd waiting outside nearly trampled him as they charged into the building.

"Good to see we haven't exactly lost our touch," George said, approaching Fred and Verity.

"We've still got it, Georgie," Fred grinned, dusting off his brother's shoulder.

* * *

><p>"Was it this crowded on the day you first opened?" Verity asked with a smile a few hours later. Fred was helping her at the cash register while George helped customers.<p>

He shook his head. "No, I don't think it was. This is completely crazy. I don't think I've ever seen this many people in here. Do you think it's a fire hazard?"

Verity shrugged. "Who knows, but who cares?"

"I couldn't agree more," George said, joining them. "Fred, I'll take over at the cash register now. You go help customers."

He nodded and stepped out from behind the counter while George took his place. Fred was about to go circulate the room, searching for customers who needed anything, when something caught his eye. Actually, it was _someone_ for that matter.

She had just walked into the shop and was standing in the doorway, looking around the room. He didn't know who she was, but there was something familiar about her. She had long, reddish brown hair and even from where he was standing he could see that her eyes were a bright green.

"Where do we know her from?" he whispered to George. "Has she come into the shop before?"

"Who?" George asked, handing a customer back some change.

"That girl who just walked in. She's standing in the doorway."

George looked up at the girl before looking back at Fred. "No, I've never seen her in here before, why?"

"She looks familiar."

"You're right," George said thoughtfully. "She does. Why don't you go talk to her and figure out where we know her from?" He elbowed Fred and winked.

"I can't just walk up to her and ask where I know her from. That's so classless," Fred sniffed and paused. "I have to at least say hello first."

"Get to it, then," George grinned.

"Okay," Fred answered. He took a deep breath and began to walk over to the girl.

"Fred?" George called.

"Yes, George?" Fred glanced over his shoulder.

"Don't forget to help her find what she needs. We can't start losing business because you decided to play googly eyes with the customers."

"I'm just being helpful," Fred said indignantly. "I'm not playing googly eyes."

"Oh that's right," Verity said, "Weasley twins don't _play_ googly eyes. It's a serious activity for you."

"Where did you hear that from?" George asked.

"From you," she answered. "When we first opened the store and before you were dating Katie. You were playing—I'm sorry—_making_ googly eyes at some girl who came in."

"Ah, yes," George said. "I tried talking to her, but then she introduced me to her dad, who was tall, scary, had muscles bigger than my head, and was giving me one of those 'back off' looks."

"Shame," Verity said, shaking her head.

"Anyway, Fred," George gestured towards the girl who was now walking along the wall of shelves nearest the door, "this girl doesn't have a big scary dad. At least not with her. That means you're free to talk to her."

Fred grinned and made his way over to the girl. "Hello, welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Can I help you with anything?"

"I'm actually all set," she said, not looking at him and crouching down to pick up a few Backwards Ink Quills from a box on the bottom shelf.

"Oh, well, is there anything else you need?" Fred asked.

"Nope, I'll just go pay for these. Thanks for asking though." The girl finally looked at him and Fred saw that her green eyes were even more stunning up close.

"You look very familiar," he said as she began walking towards the cash register, attempting to keep her talking a little more, and trying to figure out why she looked so familiar.

She looked at him, smiled and tilted her head. "You're Fred, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "How did you know?"

She looked as if she was thinking about something and she didn't answer right away. Fred decided to try something else. "Have we met before?"

She smiled. "I guess you could say that."

"What's your name?"

"I don't think telling you my name would make you remember me," she said.

"Why not? Just tell me and maybe it will."

She shook her head. "If you're meant to find out then you will." She gave him a smile and turned around, walking to the cash register.

Fred stood there, dumbfounded as she reached the line at the cash register. Just then, a customer asked Fred to help them find the Puking Pastils, preventing him from going up to her again. He glanced up five minutes later to see her heading for the door.

"Hey, wait," he said, catching up to her.

She turned and looked at him. "Yes?" she asked.

"Will you please tell me your name? It's going to bug me forever if I don't know at least that."

She stared at him for a second before speaking. "Like I said, if you're meant to find out, then you will."

"What does that mean?" Fred asked exasperatedly.

"If I see you again, I'll tell you my name," she answered.

"Why don't you tell me now?"

"Because we're going to play a game and leave this all up to fate."

"Fate?" he asked doubtfully. "But what if that kind of thing doesn't exist?"

"Then let's think of this as a little experiment to find out if it does, Mr. Non-Believer. If we meet again, then it'll be fate, and I'll tell you my name. I promise. I'll even tell you the story behind it."

"There's a story?" Fred asked.

She nodded. "There is."

"I can't wait to hear it," he called as she walked out the door.

"Ah, looks who's a believer now," she called over her shoulder. All too soon, she disappeared into the crowd.

* * *

><p>"So, did you find out who she is?" George asked as they closed the shop that night. Verity had already gone home so it was just the two of them.<p>

Fred shook his head. "She knew me, though, but I still don't know where we know her from."

"She knew me too," George said. "When she was paying for her things, I handed her the bag and she said 'thanks George,' and walked away."

"Weird," Fred said, turning off the lights before they walked into the back room and up the stairs to the flat. "She wouldn't tell me her name either. She said we're going to leave everything up to fate and if we meet each other again, she'll tell me her name."

"Really?" George asked with a small laugh. "What if you never see her again?"

"Exactly," Fred answered. "That's what worries me. And it's not like I can go looking for her either because I don't know anything about her like where she lives or where she works."

"Plus, wouldn't that go against the rules of fate?" George asked. "Fate wouldn't be fate if you just went looking for her and knew all the places to look."

"I suppose," Fred shrugged, collapsing onto the couch.

It was killing him, not being able to know who the girl was. He had come to the conclusion that today had been the first time she had come into the shop. He would have noticed her if she came in before. The shop did tend to get crowded though and he could easily have missed her. He wished he could figure it all out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I got the idea for this story after watching the movie _Serendipity_ so some parts of this story are kind of based off of that. It's a great movie and I've always thought the idea of fate was fascinating so I decided to write a story about it. **

**Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! Honestly, I love reading them...they make me so happy! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

"_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you." –**Enchanted **_**(Taylor Swift)**

* * *

><p>A week went by and Fred didn't run into the mystery girl again. She hadn't come into the shop and he hadn't run into her anywhere else. It was incredibly frustrating. He was beginning to think that he would never see her again and that this whole fate thing was a load of rubbish.<p>

"Maybe today's the day," George said cheerfully as they stood in the back room of the shop one morning. It was now a week and a half after Fred had seen the mystery girl.

"I doubt it," Fred said. "If she believes in fate so much, she won't just waltz in here."

"Unless someone else brings her here," George argued. "If it wasn't her decision then that can be considered fate, can't it?"

"I don't know, George, let's just look it up in the fate rule book," Fred joked with a roll of his eyes.

"Brilliant," George pulled a random book off the bookshelf and flipped it open to a page in the middle. "Ah, yes, it says so right here. It's considered fate if the decision to come here, to our shop, was not her idea."

"Ah, I see, and what else does this," Fred paused and lifted the edge of the book cover off of George's arm, "Potions book say?"

"It says we're both crazy," George said, snapping the book shut and shaking his head. He put the book back on the shelf. "But you know what I think?"

"I'd love to know what you think," Fred sighed. He leaned against the table while George began looking through boxes on the floor. Verity was handling the cash register while the twins worked in the back on a few new products.

"I think you should go out for lunch today," George said, standing up, a small bottle in his hand. He tossed the bottle in the air and caught it again, a grin spreading over his face.

"That was completely irrelevant to our conversation," Fred said, wrinkling his nose.

"No, it wasn't. I think you should go out to lunch so that you'll have a greater chance of running into fate girl. Maybe she goes to lunch in Diagon Alley too. The only place to eat here is the Leaky Cauldron, so if she eats around here, that's where she'll be." George dumped the contents of the bottle into a cauldron on the table and began to stir it as steam slowly rose from the cauldron.

"But I'll be going there hoping that she'll be there too. It's kind of like looking for her, isn't it? And that's against the rules of this whole fate thing," Fred said.

"Are you inhaling too many fumes?" George asked, gesturing to the steam. "When have we ever cared about rules? And this whole fate thing is a little bit silly. You need to eat, so you should go to the restaurant. You can't keep worrying about what's considered fate and what isn't."

"We usually eat here though," Fred stared at the ceiling as if he were staring right through it into the flat above them.

George sighed. "You want to see her again don't you?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded.

"I say to hell with this fate thing and the rules and all the technicalities. You want to see her again, so why not do a little looking? She might be at the Leaky Cauldron and she might not be. Verity and I will eat here like always. You go to the Leaky Cauldron and see if she's there. You need to find her, Freddie. It's driving you nuts not knowing who she is, and honestly, I'm pretty curious myself."

"You're right," Fred agreed with a nod.

"Of course I am, now help me with this potion."

* * *

><p>At lunchtime, Fred exited the shop and headed down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron. For some reason, his heart was pounding like crazy. What if she was there? What would he say to her? When he reached the restaurant, he took a deep breath and pushed open the door.<p>

Stepping inside, he did a quick scan of the room and his stomach clenched in nervousness and excitement. She was here. She was sitting in a table by the window, staring outside, and she was alone once again. Fred couldn't believe his luck.

Taking another deep breath and using the courage that had made him a Gryffindor, he marched up to her table.

"So it looks like you're going to have to tell me that story," he said, sliding into the seat across from her.

She jumped and looked at him, blinking a few times. "I don't believe it," she said.

"Believe it," Fred smirked. "I'm here." He leaned back and rested his arms across the back of the booth.

"You didn't find out I was here from anyone?" she asked.

"How would I? I don't know where I know you from and I don't know your name, your relatives, your friends…"

"I get it," she said. "So what made you come here?"

"George suggested that go out on our lunch break."

"Why isn't he here?"

"He didn't feel like coming," Fred shrugged. "What's with the interrogation?"

The girl ignored his question and smiled excitedly. "See? This really was fate!"

Fred stared at her. "How do you know?"

"We met again completely by chance. If your brother hadn't suggested you come here, if you hadn't followed his advice and if I hadn't needed a break from, well, things, then we wouldn't have run into each other."

"Do you want a drink or something to eat? I'm guessing that's why you came here and I know that's why I came here, but yet the table is empty of food." He looked at the empty table top.

She laughed. "Okay."

Fred went to the counter and bought their drinks and food. "Is this considered a date?" he asked.

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "Not a date."

"Why not?" Fred asked with a smile.

"Boyfriend," she answered.

Fred's smile dropped and he stared at his food. "Oh." That was a real downer. After a moment he looked up again. "So what about your name and that story?"

"You're not going to forget about that are you?" she asked with a laugh.

Fred shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Okay," she said, leaning back and looking at him. "First of all, my name is Cassie. It's short for Cassiopeia."

"Like the constellation?" Fred asked.

She nodded. "It's not much of a story, but my mother loves astronomy. Always has. Her favorite constellation was always Cassiopeia. She thought it sounded the prettiest so when I was born, that became my name. The story behind the constellation is that there was supposedly this queen named Cassiopeia and she thought that she and her daughter were incredibly beautiful and she often bragged about it. Zeus' wife was angry and annoyed at Cassiopeia, so she went to Poseidon, the god of the sea to ask for Cassiopeia to be punished. Poseidon decided to take away Cassiopeia's daughter and tie her to a rock so that a sea monster could eat her. Well, long story short, she was rescued, but the other gods didn't think Cassiopeia suffered enough so she was made a constellation that hangs upside down for half of the year and right side up for the other half. I'm not a very good storyteller but that's the general gist of it."

"Wow, I never knew any of that," Fred said with a low whistle.

"Yeah, none of it really applies to my life," Cassie shrugged. "My mum just liked the sound of the name. I don't think I'm anything like the girl in the myth."

"Clearly," Fred said. "Even though you really are very pretty." He saw her blush and he smiled.

"Watch it," she said. "You're not allowed to be flirting with me."

"I think I'm allowed," he answered. "It's just innocent flirting."

"What time do you have to go back to work?" she asked.

Fred shrugged, noticing the change of subject. "I only have an hour for lunch so I should head back soon, but I think it might be okay if I'm a little late."

"Will George mind?" she asked.

Fred shook his head and didn't say anything for a minute. "How do you know who George and I are?"

"I'm not surprised that you don't remember. Maybe I'll tell you one day, though," she said.

"So you're planning on seeing me again," Fred answered with a smirk. "Are we leaving our next meeting up to fate again? Please say no, I'm begging you."

Cassie looked at him thoughtfully and smiled. "I have an idea," she said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a black marker and a Sickle. She put the Sickle on the table and then pulled a napkin towards her and began to write, hiding it from Fred the whole time. She stuck the napkin in her pocket and, pulling the Sickle towards her, tapped it with her wand. The bottom half of it turned blue as if it had somehow gotten a smudge of paint on it.

"I don't get it," Fred said.

"Wait here." Cassie stood up and went to the counter, pulling another Sickle from her pocket. Fred watched as she used the regular Sickle and the half blue Sickle to pay for a butterbeer. She brought the drink back and set it on the table in front of him. "For you as thanks for buying me lunch."

"It's no trouble, but what was the point of what you just did?"

"Oh, I almost forgot," she said, leaning over and opening the window. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the napkin she had written on. Fred caught a glimpse of words written in black marker. "Forgive me for littering," Cassie said. "This is the first and only time I will ever do such a thing." With that, she threw the napkin out the window. Fred watched as it blew away.

"I'm so confused," he complained.

"On that napkin, I wrote my name, first and last, and my address. It's out in the real world now and if you ever come across it, it's considered fate. You'll have my name and address and you'll be able to find me. Since I already know where you live, I turned half of the Sickle blue and spent it so that it will travel from person to person, place to place. If I ever come across it, I'll consider it fate and I'll come find you. Until then, if I ever do find it, I'll have to stay away from your shop, unfortunately."

"But then what?" Fred asked. "You have a boyfriend. We can't really do much if we do find each other again."

"We can do stuff like this," Cassie answered. "This wasn't a date."

"You really believe in this stuff," Fred said, looking at her in wonder. He didn't understand why she was putting all of her hopes in the hands of fate. She either really believed it would work or she didn't want to see him again. Either option made her sound slightly crazy, but at the same time it was fascinating.

"I like to," she shrugged. "I don't know if it's real, but I like to think it is. I'm a big believer in everything happening for a reason as well."

"So if our futures are already decided for us then what's the point of living and making decisions?"

"I think," she sighed, "that parts of our life are decided for us, and sometimes we have to make our decisions that lead to inevitable consequences and results. Think of it this way. You're walking down a road. The road symbolizes your life and you obviously symbolize yourself. Eventually, you reach a fork in the road. You have to decide on your own which way you want to go and whatever path you take, you'll end up somewhere different and see different things. And maybe sometimes life gives us little hints that push us towards the right road for us. Did that make sense?"

"Kind of," Fred said slowly. "So my decision to come here today would have been a fork in the road?"

"Exactly," she said excitedly. "You had two options. Eat lunch at home, or come here. If you had stayed home you wouldn't have seen me here today. You might have seen me at another point, but we don't know that. Your choice to come here caused us to meet again. You catch on fast."

"Of course I do," Fred grinned. He glanced at his watch. He was supposed to be back at the shop in two minutes, but he didn't want to leave. He didn't know when he would see Cassie again, or if he would at all. He had to depend on finding that napkin, which he had a one in a million chance of finding.

"You should go," Cassie said suddenly. "I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I'm my own boss," Fred answered. "The only person I can get in trouble with is myself and I'm not going to get angry with myself for spending time with you."

"I have a boyfriend, Fred," she said with a smile. "Anyway, won't George be upset that you're late?"

"Maybe a little, but he wanted me to find you and he's just as curious as I am about where we know you from."

"Like I said, that's a story for another time."

"You're going to make me wait until I find the napkin or you find the Sickle? That could take years or it might never happen at all."

"True, but it could also take a day, or a few hours. We don't know that. And maybe we'll run into each other before then on our own. In fact, I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again soon." She stood up. "So I guess it's safe to say that I hope we do meet again soon."

"Yeah," Fred said slowly, "but wait, you do want to see me again, right? I mean, as friends, since you're taken." He wrinkled his nose at the last word.

"Of course," she said.

"You're not playing games with me are you? I mean you can tell me right out if you don't want to see me again. I'll back off, I promise."

"Trust me, I want to see you again," she said. "Thanks again for lunch." With that, she left the restaurant, leaving Fred more intrigued and frustrated with her at the same time.

* * *

><p>Cassie unlocked the door to her apartment and sighed as she saw the messy state that the living room was in. She had bought this apartment two years ago, a month after she had graduated school. She had enjoyed living here on her own for the summer, but then her boyfriend had moved in with her that September. She had been excited at first, but that had slowly changed.<p>

She had always known he was messy, but she quickly realized how hard it was to live with someone who didn't like to pick up after themselves.

She continued to look around the room. An empty mug that had once held tea was sitting on the table next to a half filled glass of water. She noticed that he had at least had the decency to use a coaster so the condensation wouldn't leave a mark. Sneakers were tossed on the floor and leftover papers littered the table and floor.

Her boyfriend, Josh, had gotten a promotion at the ministry a few months ago and ever since then, he had been working way too much. Before the promotion he had hardly been home anyway, but now if it weren't for the mess, she wouldn't have even known he lived there.

With a sigh, she began picking up the living room. No matter how many times she cleaned, it always ended up a mess again. She didn't even bother to look in Josh's room. She was afraid to see what it looked like. Plus, he wouldn't be happy if she touched or moved any of his things.

At eight that night, she had dinner sitting on the table. She took a breath and exhaled as she looked at the steaming dishes. She glanced at the clock and then back at the table. There was no telling when Josh was going to come home, but it was usually around eight.

Just as she was about to sit down while she waited, she heard the sound of the front door opening. She stood up and walked to the front of the house.

"Hi," she said.

Josh turned from the front closet where he was hanging up his coat. At least he was hanging it up. Sometimes he didn't even do that, tossing it on a chair instead. "Hey," he said with a small smile.

"Dinner's ready," she said quietly, smiling back.

"Is it? Good, I'm starving." Josh gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and made a beeline straight for the kitchen.

Cassie sighed before she followed him. She sat down next to him and after a moment of silence, she decided to speak. "So your birthday's coming up in a few weeks."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Josh answered as if the thought was news to him.

"Have you been so busy, you've forgotten about your own birthday?" she teased.

Josh blushed. "Maybe," he answered. "Look, I know I'm not around a lot anymore. I'd like to be but with work and everything-,"

"Friday and Saturday nights you go out with your friends," she interrupted, staring at her fork. "The rest of the time you're working. I just think it would be nice to spend a little time together."

"I work hard, Cass," he said. "I need time to relax with my friends too."

"I understand that, but what about me?" she asked. "Maybe one night you can go with your friends and the other you can stay here with me. Or we can go out or something." She glanced up at him hopefully.

"We'll see," he answered with a sigh, running a hand through his hair.

She didn't answer. Instead, she went back to picking at her food. "Well anyway," she said finally, "I was thinking I could cook you a nice dinner for your birthday. I know it's still a few weeks away, but what would you like me to make?"

"That's nice of you," Josh smiled, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "You know I like steak and potatoes. What about that?"

"Sure, whatever you want," she said. "Do you think you can be home for six? There's nothing wrong with coming home early on your birthday."

Josh smiled and leaned over to kiss her. "I'll see what I can do, but I don't think it will be a problem."

"Good," Cassie said with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Somehow I can't forget you, been going crazy since the moment I met you."—Untouched (The Veronicas)_

* * *

><p>"You found her, didn't you?" George asked the second Fred returned to the shop after lunch.<p>

"How did you know?" Fred retaliated, a grin lifting the corners of his mouth.

"For one thing, you're late, and you're also grinning like an idiot."

"Yeah, I did run into her, actually." Fred's grin widened and he began helping George restock one of the shelves.

"And?" George prodded. "What happened? Who is she?"

"She wouldn't tell me how she knew us," Fred sighed, "but she did tell me her name."

"What is it?" George had stopped what he was doing and was holding a tube of color changing face paint in his hands, halfway to putting it on the shelf.

"Cassie," Fred sighed. "Well, it's really Cassiopeia, but-,"

"Cassiopeia? Like the constellation?" George wrinkled his nose.

"Yes, it's a great name," Fred answered defensively.

"I didn't say it wasn't," George laughed. He paused and continued stocking the color changing face paint. "What's her last name?"

"She didn't tell me," Fred shrugged.

"So all you found out about her was her first name?" George asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, that and the fact that she has a boyfriend but she wants to hang out with me more."

"Why?" George asked. "I mean, if she has a boyfriend, which is a bummer by the way, why does she want to hang out with another guy?"

"As friends, I guess," Fred shrugged again.

"Maybe," George answered. "I just hope she isn't going to lead you on."

"Why would she?"

"I don't know, Fred, but I don't want to see you get hurt by this girl. You hardly know her and every time you see her you don't get far in finding out more about her. You know her first name, that she has a boyfriend, and wants to see you again. I don't know, Fred. It sounds weird."

"It gets weirder. I haven't told you the rest." Fred told George Cassie's plan with the napkin and the Sickle. When he was done, he looked at George, who was standing there, holding another tube of face paint and staring at him. "George," he began, but before he could say anything else, there was a popping sound as the face paint tube exploded.

Fred began to laugh once he had gotten a look at George's face. It was smeared with red face paint which was currently changing to purple.

"This isn't funny, Fred," George said, but he was laughing as well.

"You'd better go wash that off before it turns to green. We don't want the customers to think the shop owners are either ill or not human."

"We're still not done with our conversation," George warned, heading into the back room.

Fred laughed and returned to stocking the shelves. He knew he'd have to finish the conversation later, but he didn't really mind.

* * *

><p>"All I'm saying, Fred, is that this girl isn't being too up front with you," George said later.<p>

Fred was leaning up against the counter in the flat, drinking a butterbeer while George rummaged around in the fridge, looking for something that could be made into diner that was preferably edible. There hadn't been much time for grocery shopping lately.

"That's what makes her so fascinating," Fred replied, taking a sip of his butterbeer. "It's like when you're reading a good book and the chapter ends at a really suspenseful part and you just have to know more."

"How would you know that?" George joked, tossing a head of wilting lettuce over his shoulder. It hit the floor with a thump.

"I do read from time to time, George," Fred laughed, "and don't pretend like you don't. I've caught you with a few books over the years."

"Okay, so I do know what you mean," George said, shutting the refrigerator door. "I think we're going to have to order food from somewhere. I know you went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch, but-,"

"It doesn't matter," Fred said with a shrug. "We need to go out and buy actual food for the flat."

"I'm aware," George groaned. "Anyway, don't think you're getting off the hook." He grabbed the collar of Fred's shirt and dragged him towards the door.

Fred kept his eyes on the ground as they walked out into Diagon Alley. He wanted to find that napkin more than anything.

"Fred, I know what you're doing," George said with a laugh.

"So what?" Fred asked. "I want to see her again."

"How can you like her so much when you hardly know her?"

"I don't know," Fred said honestly. "There's something about her that I just like. The fact that she's keeping me guessing actually makes me like her more."

"And the fact that she's unavailable," George smirked.

"Don't remind me," Fred groaned.

"You know, we really should have waited a little longer so that you could have changed or something."

"Why?" Fred looked down at his faded jeans and Ireland Quidditch t-shirt from the World Cup. Harry had insisted on buying one each for Fred and George since they had spent all their savings betting with Bagman. It was his favorite t-shirt; slightly worn and incredibly comfortable. "I was wearing this at lunch today," he pointed out to George.

"Yeah, maybe a bad idea," George smirked, poking a finger through the small hole that had started at the collar of the shirt by Fred's shoulder. "I was going to say that if you happen to _fatefully_ run into Cassie again, you wouldn't want her to see you looking like a hobo, but I guess the damage is already done."

"Oh shut up," Fred mumbled. "She didn't seem to care. Plus, it's not like all of my clothes are like this. This shirt is almost four years old and it's my favorite."

"I know that," George laughed.

"Anyway, you're criticizing my appearance when you still have a slightly purple face."

"Okay, so the face paint kind of left some color," George said, shrugging. "We're even. Are you happy? While we're on the subject, though, why did it do that? It didn't stain our skin when we tested it originally."

"Well, we didn't use the whole bottle at once," Fred laughed.

"It exploded!" George exclaimed.

"And why did it explode?" Fred prompted.

"Because I couldn't believe how into fate this girl was that I squeezed the tube too hard," George replied, hanging his head.

"I believe we have learned a very important lesson today, George."

"We have," George agreed. "Do not ask people about their meetings with girls when stocking prank products."

"That wasn't what I had in mind, but that's a good one," Fred nodded. "We should make that a shop rule."

"Our shop doesn't have any rules. Why start now?" George shrugged.

"Well, there is the rule about not obeying the rules," Fred said, pushing open the door to the Leaky Cauldron.

"True," George said. He nudged Fred. "Is she here?"

Fred craned his neck to see if Cassie was here. He doubted it. She most likely had a fridge stocked with lots of edible food.

"No, she's not," he answered once he had finally finished surveying the restaurant.

"Oh well, maybe another day," George said apologetically, patting Fred on the back. He headed for the counter. Fred followed, feeling slightly upset that Cassie wasn't here. He told himself to not feel too upset. He should be glad he had seen her today at all.

"You know," George said, on their walk back to the shop. "You'd think we'd remember a girl named Cassiopeia."

"I know!" Fred exclaimed. "Unless we never knew her as Cassiopeia. It is kind of a mouthful and besides that, it takes too long to say. You can save so much time by just saying 'Cassie' or 'Cass'."

"She must have gone to Hogwarts with us," George said. "I mean, where else would we have known her from?"

"I don't remember seeing her," Fred answered thoughtfully.

"She's a mystery," George sighed.

"I need to find that napkin," Fred said quietly.

Once they got back to the flat, they started eating. "You're awfully quiet. What is it?" George asked.

"Do you think I'm crazy for being so curious about her?" Fred asked. The question had been on his mind all evening.

George put his fork down. "No," he said slowly. "It's normal for you to be curious, but I meant what I said earlier. I don't want you to end up hurt because of this girl. Like I said, we don't know her very well."

"I feel like I do," Fred said, staring into his plate. "It's hard to explain."

"I get it," George answered. "I know you have good judgment, so I'm going to let you handle this, but just be careful and know that if she hurts you, I will find her and sneak a Puking Pastil into her food."

"Sounds like a plan," Fred agreed, a grin spreading over his face.

* * *

><p>Cassie sat in her bedroom at the white wooden desk that her dad had built for her when she was little. She ran her hand over a section of the desk that wasn't covered with books and papers. She could remember helping her dad put it together. He had wanted to do it together without magic so that they could bond. It had actually come out very nice considering they had done it the Muggle way. It has lasted all of these years without falling apart.<p>

Speaking of her parents, they had written to let her know that they would be stopping by tonight for a few minutes. Cassie glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine. They would be here soon, but until then, she needed to get some work done.

Cassie was a writer. Well, an aspiring writer at least. She was still working on her first book and in the meantime, she worked at Flourish and Blotts. She had gotten a job there when she had left school, intending for it to be a short lasting, part time job until she could write her first book, but that had taken longer than she expected.

She now worked at Flourish and Blotts full time. Once she made it big as an author, that wouldn't be necessary anymore. The manager at the bookstore absolutely loved her and had just made her the assistant manager, which was the reason for her parents' visit.

"Cass, your parents are here!" Josh shouted up the stairs.

"Okay, thank you!" she shouted back down. She stood up and stretched before heading downstairs. Her parents were standing in the living room, talking to Josh. Well, attempting to talk to him. He looked as if he were only half listening as he sat on the couch and flipped through a pile of work papers.

"Mum, Dad," she said, stepping into the room.

"Hello sweetie," her mother said, hugging her.

"So when's your first day as an assistant manager?" her father asked once she has kissed his cheek.

"Tomorrow," she said. "I had the day off today and tomorrow will be my first day."

"That's wonderful," her mother said, smiling affectionately. "Isn't that exciting, Josh? How did you react to the news?" They all turned towards Josh and Cassie let out a small sigh. He had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Long day at work," she said.

"Isn't every day a long day at work for him?" her mother asked, giving Cassie a knowing, perplexed stare.

"Yes," she answered with another sigh. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink? We just finished eating not too long ago, but I can reheat-,"

"Honey, we're fine," her mother assured her, following Cassie to the kitchen. "We aren't staying long. I'm sure you're tired."

"We know for a fact that Josh is," her father laughed.

Cassie let out a small laugh. "That's pretty much a routine for him."

"So, how _did _he react to your promotion?" her mother asked, taking a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

"He was happy for me," Cassie answered, pouring herself a glass of milk and standing across the counter from her mother. It was the truth. Josh had been happy. She smiled at the memory of him spinning her in one of his bear hugs that she claimed squished her but secretly loved.

"Did he take you out to dinner or anything?"

"No, but I wasn't expecting anything like that."

"From him, you mean," her dad said.

"Well, no, from anyone," she said.

"Cass, we weren't born yesterday," her mother sighed, placing a hand on hers. "We can see that he's been a little _too_ busy with work. I mean, does he even spend time with you anymore?"

"Well, no," she answered. "Oh, but that's terrible of me to say. We eat dinner together."

"At what time?" her mother prodded.

"Usually it's at least eight. Never any earlier, sometimes later."

Her mother didn't say anything, but she shook her head. "Ever since that promotion he got two months ago," she began. She didn't finish talking, but continued to shake her head.

"Even before that," her father added.

"Come on, he took me on dates, brought me flowers," Cassie said, trying to defend her boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah, he did that stuff all the time when you first started going out," her mother said. "It was, what, the very end of your last year at school when he asked you out?"

"Yeah, May 16th was two years," Cassie said quietly.

"Anyway, my point is that I can remember the beginning of your relationship. He brought you flowers and took you out on dates almost every other day. That summer alone, I thought I had mysteriously acquired another family member he was around so much."

"Little by little, that kind of thing dwindled," her father said, shaking his head now.

"I'd say after the first year," her mother continued. "I think he got used to being in a relationship."

"Mum, that's not fair. Josh is good to me. It doesn't matter that we don't go on dates or anything anymore."

"That's not the point," her mother said. "He doesn't have any time for you at all. I'm not saying it's intentional, but it just seems like he's putting work and friends before you and he's living with you. In your last letter you complained about him leaving the house a mess. I'm worried he's taking advantage of you."

"He _is_ taking advantage of you," her father insisted.

"No, dad, we do eat dinner together, even if it is late, and he said he was going to try to come home early for his birthday coming up. This promotion's new and it's at the Ministry. They always have so much work. I'm sure he'll be available more once he learns how to manage his new workload." She felt as if she were trying to convince herself as well as her parents.

"I sure hope so, for your sake," her dad said.

Cassie didn't answer. Instead, she stared into her now empty glass of milk and for some reason, wondered if she would be having this discussion if she had been dating Fred. The shop closed fairly early and she doubted he would have much outside work to do. She wondered if he would take her on dates and bring her flowers because he felt like it. And, what frightened her most was that she found herself wondering if she would be happier dating Fred.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Maybe I'm your Mr. Right. Maybe I'm the one you like."—Mr. Right (A Rocket to the Moon)_

* * *

><p>A week later, Fred still hadn't found the napkin. He took it that Cassie hadn't found the Sickle either because she hadn't come to see him. This fate thing was really beginning to sound dumb.<p>

"Fred, you've lost your mind," George said one night after closing as Fred dumped out the garbage can behind the counter and lightly picked through the contents.

"Hm?" Fred said distractedly.

George grabbed the trash can and swept the pile of trash off the counter and back into the bin. "You're looking through garbage to find a napkin so that you can find Cassie."

"You're right," Fred sighed. He went upstairs and washed his hands. He was pretty sure he had touched someone's gum in that trash can. "I'm pathetic."

"Just a little," George said with a grin."Honestly, Fred, stop worrying and let this happen on its own. It's what Cassie wants, isn't it? It's the whole point of her little experiment."

Fred nodded and sat on the couch. "I wonder what happens if I find the Sickle instead," he said, tapping his chin. "I mean, we're coming into contact with money all day. There's a good chance that I'll find it instead of her."

"So?" George asked. "There isn't any information on it. You won't be able to find Cassie and tell her. You'll just have to spend it and wait for her to find it."

Fred was silent again before he stood up and peered into the kitchen trash can. George stopped him.

"No, absolutely not," he said, shaking his head. "This is silly, Fred. You and I are really the only ones who see what goes into that trash and I would have told you if I found the napkin."

Fred nodded. "Okay, you're right. No more trash bins."

"No more trash bins," George repeated. "Promise?" He made fists with his hands, holding out his pinkies and crossed his arms at the wrists. Fred did the same and they hooked their pinkies together and shook once. It was their own little handshake from when they were little.

"Want to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow night?" Fred asked. "You know, just to spend time together and so I can get my mind off things."

"Sure," George said with a smile. "Sounds good, but you better make sure you look nice just in case you run into your crazy, already taken love interest."

"George," Fred groaned, "you aren't helping, and she's not crazy!"

"Oh no," George laughed. "She's just as sane as you are." He headed off towards his bedroom and Fred could hear him muttering, "Looking through trash bins, honestly."

The next night, Fred dressed the way he normally dressed. He threw on jeans and a t-shirt, but this time the shirt was newer and didn't have a hole.

He and George arrived in Hogsmeade just as it was getting dark and headed straight for Zonko's. It had been a tradition while they were in school to visit Zonko's first during every Hogsmeade trip and it was a tradition they still kept.

"Who is that?" George asked as they neared the store. There was a guy about their age standing outside, clearly waiting for someone. He looked impatient and kept checking his watch.

"I can't see his face," Fred said, "but from the back he looks like-,"

"—Josh Simon," George finished. He nudged Fred and laughed. "We pulled so many pranks on him"

"Well he was always a bit uptight," Fred shrugged. "He always tried to get us in trouble, too. Never really liked him all that much."

"Why don't we go over and say hello?" George smirked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Ton Tongue Toffee. "With a little luck, we can get him to eat this."

"Brilliant," Fred agreed.

They began walking towards Josh, but stopped when the person he was waiting for came out of Zonko's. Fred's mouth dropped open and he dragged George into the alleyway next to the shop. They peered around the corner and watched.

"That's the girl, isn't it?" George hissed. "And she's kissing Josh!"

"That must be who her boyfriend is," Fred whispered back. "Now I really don't like him."

"You should go say hi," George said. "Letting him know that you know Cassie would really make him upset. Give him this while you're at it." He handed Fred the toffee.

"No, I'm not going to do that," Fred shook his head. "Do you know how awkward that would be? Look, they're kissing again. I can't go marching out there."

"You can and you will," George argued.

They had a mini wrestling match in the alleyway, resulting in a garbage can tipping over with a loud bang. Fred and George froze.

"Who's there?" Josh's voice yelled.

"It was probably just a cat," they heard Cassie say.  
>"Oh, look," George whispered with a smirk. "You have clear access to the contents of the garbage can now."<p>

"Shut it," Fred hissed back.

"Go," George answered, giving Fred a small push.

"Hello," Fred said cheerily as he stumbled out into the street. Josh and Cassie looked at him.

"Fred?" Cassie asked incredulously.

"Cassie?" Fred asked, pretending to be surprised. "What a lovely surprise it is to see you here."

"A lovely surprise?" Josh snorted. "Since when have you two ever talked to each other? You were never friends before."

Fred wasn't sure what Josh was talking about, but he ignored his comment altogether. "Is this the boyfriend you mentioned, Cassie?" His voice was still a little overly cheery. He cleared his throat and smiled.

"Yeah, this is-,"

"—Josh, I know," Fred answered, raising an eyebrow. "Haven't seen you in a few years. My brother Percy said you got a promotion at the Ministry. Sounds impressive and incredibly boring," Fred smirked and crossed his arms.

"I heard you run a joke shop. Sounds silly and immature," Josh answered.

"That must be why we're doing so well business-wise," Fred answered with a small laugh.

"Well, joke shops aren't very appropriate for anyone over the age of ten in my opinion," Josh said in a tone that reminded Fred of Percy. "Cassie here loves them, though. I can't see why, and I've tried to tell her to stay away from them but she insisted on going into Zonko's tonight."

Cassie looked at the ground and Fred noticed the slight blush that was appearing on her cheeks. Anger flared inside of him. Boyfriend or not, who was Josh to put her down like that in public and while she was standing right there?

"She's a big girl, Josh. I think she can make her own decisions," Fred said.

"I'm aware," Josh said. "But I am allowed to voice my opinions, aren't I?"

"I suppose," Fred shrugged.

Josh squinted. "So anyway, how did you know Cassie and I were dating?"

"We were dating in school, Josh," Cassie said, glancing at Fred and sending him a look to keep his mouth shut. "He probably found out that way."

"We were only dating for a month before we graduated," Josh said, "and I get the impression that this guy and his twin never really paid much attention to anyone besides themselves, much less someone in another house."

"I know who you are," Fred answered. He paused and looked at Cassie. "You went to Hogwarts?"

Josh let out a loud laugh. "See what I mean, Cass?" he asked.

"Well, Josh, you have to remember that I-,"

Josh cut her off. "Come on, we're leaving, and you," he pointed at Fred, "just stay away from my girlfriend. I never thought I'd have to tell you that," he added with a small chuckle. He grabbed Cassie's hand and started to drag her away, but Fred subtly pointed his wand at his back. At once, Josh started coughing.

"Oh dear," Fred said dully.

"What's wrong, Josh?" Cassie asked.

"Can't…stop…coughing," he wheezed in between coughs.

"Here, maybe this will help." Fred held out the Ton Tongue Toffee. Josh snatched it from his hand. He was so desperate to fix his cough that he seemed to have forgotten what Fred was famous for, which was exactly for what Fred had been aiming.

Josh stuck the toffee in his mouth and Fred silently and subtly performed the counter curse for the coughing jinx, but now Josh was gagging and holding his throat.

"Josh," Cassie cried, her voice panicked. Josh sank to the ground and she sat next to him, holding onto his arm.

Fred smirked and backed away unnoticed as Josh's tongue began to grow out of his mouth and past his chin.

"Brilliant," George whispered through fits of laughter once Fred had rejoined him in the alleyway. "He deserved that."

"He hasn't changed much," Fred said with a smile. "He's still the stuck up, know it all jerk that we knew in school."

"Come on, let's get out of here before they find us," George said.

They disapparated back into their flat and promptly fell over laughing. It was always funny to pull a prank on someone who deserved it.

When their laughter finally slowed to a stop, Fred let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "She went to Hogwarts, George," he said.

"That makes sense," George answered. "Like I said to you before, where else would we know her from?"

"I know, but now that I know for sure, it bothers me that I don't remember her."

"A lot of people went to Hogwarts. It's impossible that we'd know all of them."

"I'll bet she was in Ravenclaw, same as Josh," Fred said. "He said we never paid attention to anyone in other houses, which is completely untrue, but it would explain why we can't really remember her. We wouldn't have seen much of her unless we had classes with her."

"Exactly," George said.

There was a silence between them before George spoke again. "That was a pointless trip, though. We never even made it into Zonko's."

"It was only partially pointless," Fred argued.

"For you it was, because you saw-,"

George never got to finish his sentence because there was the loud popping sound of someone apparating right into their flat.

"Cassie!" Fred yelped as George let out a small yell and rolled off the couch.

"Oi, who do you think you are apparating into someone's flat like that?" George demanded. "You almost sent me into cardiac arrest."

"What did you do to him?" Cassie said angrily, ignoring George's question and sticking her wand in Fred's face.

"To who?" Fred asked innocently.

"You know who," she hissed.

"The thing is, as cool as it would be to be able to take credit for that, I didn't do anything to You-Know-Who. That was all Harry Potter. You should go see him," Fred answered, managing to keep a straight face.

Cassie poked her wand into Fred's chest. "You know I'm not talking about Voldemort. I'm talking about Josh! It is entirely your fault that his tongue grew to five feet long!"

"Five feet? Wow, that even beats the record of Harry's cousin's tongue, doesn't it, George?" Fred asked.

"Yeah, I believe his tongue only grew to four feet before-,"

"Answer my question!" Cassie demanded. "What did you do to him?" Her eyes were flashing and she looked slightly scary.

"Get your wand out of my brother's face," George said, his voice low. He stood up and went to stand by Fred.

"Not until he tells me what he did to my boyfriend!" Cassie screeched.

"You're not supposed to come here willingly," Fred said. "I mean, doesn't that go against your whole fate experiment?"

"Who cares about that right now?" Cassie yelled. "You did something to Josh."

"It was only a joke product," Fred answered. "Relax, why don't you?"

"No, I will not relax!" Cassie said in a tone that reminded Fred of Hermione during exam time. "What did you give him?"

"A Ton-Tongue Toffee," Fred answered. "All it does is make tongues grow. It can be reversed and-,"

"I know it can be reversed. I managed to shrink his tongue, thanks for your concern." She seemed to have calmed down a little and she lowered her wand from Fred's chest and went to sit on the couch, where she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Fred and George looked at each other. George shrugged and they both sat down on either side of her.

"Why are you here?" Fred asked in a somewhat annoyed tone. "Won't Josh get angry?"

"He doesn't know," Cassie answered. "He wanted me to get ice."

"Ice?" George asked. "For what?"

"For his tongue," Cassie answered.

"He doesn't need ice!" Fred exclaimed. "Ton Tongue Toffees don't hurt at all, even when the tongues are shrunk back to normal. We would know; we tested them ourselves."

Cassie looked from Fred to George and back to Fred. "I believe you," she said, "but he said he needed ice and I was already still in panic mode from what had happened so, I don't know, I just panicked some more and came straight here to figure out what was going on."

"Josh is being a big baby," George said simply, leaning back into the couch. "Always has been."

"Hey," Cassie said with a half smile. "He's not all that bad. He's been good to me."

"Uh-huh," Fred said slowly, nodding. "I suppose that's why he lets the whole world know that he hates your interest in joke shops. He made you look like an idiot tonight, Cassie."

Cassie looked down at her hands. "He was so angry once I brought him home. He got me to tell him that I hung out with you before. I didn't tell him about the fate thing, but he found out that we had met twice in the past few weeks and he doesn't want me to see you again. He doesn't want me to go into any more joke shops either. He's saying they're dangerous in addition to immature."

Fred and George gaped at her. "Look," Fred said, "if there's one thing our products aren't, it's dangerous. There's always a counter curse of some sort to fix any damage and none of it is ever truly harmful."

"I know that," Cassie said, "but Josh disagrees."

"He sounds like our brother, Percy. He thought we were immature, too," George said, shaking his head. "He came around in the end, though, but it doesn't seem like Josh ever will."

"So," Fred said, "were you in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts?"

Cassie gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I was, but if you remember, I said I'd save the story of how we know each other for another time."

"Josh doesn't want us to hang out," Fred said. "How are you ever going to tell me?"

Cassie shrugged again. "I expect you'll find out eventually, but not tonight."

"It's bothering me that I don't know," Fred answered. "I feel like an idiot."

"Don't," she shrugged. "I honestly don't expect you to remember me. We didn't really talk."

"Then how do you seem to know me so well?" Fred asked.

"You'll find out eventually," Cassie said again. "I don't have time to tell you tonight anyway. Right now, I should be getting back to Josh with his ice."

"He can wait," Fred said forcefully.

"He doesn't need the ice," George added. "I thought we already discussed that."

"He thinks he needs ice," Cassie said, standing up and heading for the door. "He won't listen to anyone who says otherwise and if he finds out I'm here…" she trailed off and shook her head.

"Wait," Fred said, jumping up. He had just noticed something when she had stood up. It was a small red scratch on Cassie's cheek that hadn't been there earlier. He crossed the room and gingerly touched it. "He was that angry?" he asked.

"It's nothing," Cassie answered, gently pushing Fred's hand away.

"What did he do?" Fred asked. He didn't bother to hide his growing anger.

"He was mad, like I said. Embarrassed, too, that he was pranked in front of me. He just threw a few plates on the ground." She sighed. "And at the wall."

"Cassie, you have to do something. Dump him, talk to him. Do something," Fred said.

"No," she said. "He's never done that before. Lost his temper like that, I mean."

"So?" George asked. "This time he was throwing plates at the wall, next time he could be throwing something at your head and if he's starting this now he can do it again."

Cassie shook her head. "I'm fine. Everything will really be okay." Fred noticed the slight way her voice was shaking and he tried to grab her arm, but she quickly moved towards the door. "I have to go."

And just like that, she was gone again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone likes the chapter. Don't forget to review! Seriously, I love reading reviews from people and hearing what they think. I also tend to update more if I get reviews, so please let me know what you think. **


	5. Chapter 5

_"I'm just trying to understand who I was and who I am, but you are changing just the same." -**Before We Come Undone (Kris Allen)**_

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed or added this story to their favorites or story alerts! :)**

* * *

><p>"Where have you been?" Josh asked, standing up and grabbing the bag of ice from Cassie's hand the second after she stepped through the door.<p>

"Getting the ice that you asked for and most likely don't need," she answered tensely.

"Are you saying I'm lying?" Josh asked, taking out a piece of ice and putting it in his mouth.

"No, I'm saying you're being a little bit dramatic," she answered, managing to sound calm now.

Josh took the piece of ice out of his mouth. "What took you so long to get the ice?" he asked.

"I think it took me a normal amount of time," she shrugged. "Plus, not many places are open anymore. It is nighttime, when most places are closing."

"I know that," Josh snapped.

Cassie just looked at him, her face expressionless. "Well, I'll just be going to bed, then."

Josh sighed. "Wait a moment, Cass."

She paused at the bottom of the stairs and glanced at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching out and brushing her cut cheek in the exact spot Fred had brushed shortly before. "I was just angry."

"You've never done that before. What if it happens again?"

"I was just angry that you had been talking to Fred behind my back. I was jealous."

Cassie was silent. She knew exactly what it was that made Josh so jealous of Fred over any other guy, but she didn't want to bring it up. She had thought it was old news, in the past, but maybe it wasn't.

"I would never ever hit you, though. It was an accident that you got hit with a piece of glass. I didn't mean for that to happen."

"Okay," she said quietly. After a moment, she headed up the stairs to her bedroom. All she wanted to do was get some sleep.

* * *

><p>"He hurt her," Fred said later that night, after Cassie had left.<p>

"Yes, but not intentionally," George answered. Fred knew his brother was trying to keep him from getting too upset and tracking Josh down.

"Still, he clearly can't control his anger that well," Fred answered. "I can't believe it."

"Fred," George said, clearing his throat. "Maybe you shouldn't see her anymore."

"George, every time I've run into her, it's been completely accidental," Fred answered. "I can't control when I do and don't see her."

"Yeah, but maybe you shouldn't stay around her and hang out, you know. Josh apparently got really angry. What if he comes after us or tries to sabotage the shop?"

"He was overreacting," Fred said. "I'm not afraid of him anyway, I'm just afraid of what he might do to Cassie."

"If you hang out with her, he might throw things again and she might get hurt again, or it might actually be her he tries to hurt."

"Only if he finds out," Fred answered. "It's a risk, yes, but we've always taken risks, haven't we?"

"Yes, I suppose we have," George said with a grin.

"I'm going to talk to her if I see her again, George. I can't explain it, but I like her a lot and if I see her again, I'm going to try to get her to choose me. Or even if she doesn't maybe I can get her to break up with Josh at the very least."

"Fred," George stood up and crossed the room to where Fred was standing. He took a breath and let it out. "Go for it."

Fred smiled and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "I knew you would say that. Thanks."

"Don't mention it," George answered with a shrug. "This actually might be pretty entertaining to watch. You know, watching you impatiently wait for fate to decide what happens. You're playing by fate's rules now."

"You know as well as I do that I'm not one for rules, Georgie. You aren't either if my memory serves correct. I'm going to do everything I can to find her and I'm also going to do everything I can to find that napkin. Will you help me?" He held out his hand.

George stared at him for a few seconds before smiling and shaking Fred's outstretched hand. "Of course," he answered. "Just as long as I don't have to look through any garbage cans. Katie wouldn't like it if I went over to her place stinky."

Fred laughed. "That's why we have showers, George."

George groaned. "You have got to be joking."

Fred laughed again. "I am actually. I'm not going to look in any more garbage cans. I'm going to figure out where she lives and where she works. I can talk to Harry or Hermione and see if they can get into the Ministry records."

"But if you find her using that method, that almost doesn't count, right?" George asked. "You didn't find the napkin if you found her by looking through records of witches and wizards."

"I think it'll count," Fred said. "I mean, if fate was really against us then it would prevent me from finding her at all. We'd just go our separate ways and never see each other again. If fate wants me to find the napkin, I'll find it. If fate wants me to find her in another way, then I will. Cassie said she thinks we make our own decisions and then fate kind of steps in until we need to make another decision. I think it's decision time right now. I decide whether to look for her or not and fate decides how and whether or not I find her."

"I'm so confused!" George groaned.

"Truthfully, I think I am too," Fred answered. "I also think we might very well be on our way to being certifiably insane."

"We reached that point a long time ago," George retaliated with a snort. "I am kind of interested to see how this all turns out, though."

"So am I," Fred nodded.

"What if it ends badly?" George asked.

"Well, we're going to have to find out. I have no idea what I'm doing but we're just going to-,"

"Wing it," George finished. "Excellent."

* * *

><p>"You really don't have to do this," Cassie said with a laugh as Josh held open the door to the restaurant for her.<p>

"Oh, but I do," he answered, following her inside. "It's my way of apologizing for accidentally hurting you."

"You already told me you were sorry," Cassie said as they were shown to their seats.

"Yeah, but actions speak louder than words, right?" Josh shrugged.

Cassie paused and looked at him. "Yeah, they do," she said quietly, wondering if he knew how hypocritical he sounded. Lately, his actions had been speaking to her loud and clear.

Tonight was the first time Josh had taken her out to eat in a long time. The trip to Hogsmeade last week had been deemed a date, but it was more of a trip to buy some things he had needed for work. She had tagged along behind him as he picked up his own supplies and he had complained when she had wanted to make one quick stop in Zonko's and had insisted on waiting outside.

Saying that she wasn't surprised when she found out he had made reservations at a nice restaurant a few towns away would be a lie.

"What about work?" she had asked. "Don't you have a lot to do to prepare for tomorrow?"

"Not as much as other days," he had answered. "Plus, I needed to do this. I can't have you mad at me."

Then he had brushed her hair off of her face and given her a gentle kiss.

"So, this is nice," Cassie said, looking around the restaurant.

"Mm," Josh agreed as he scanned the menu, tapping one of his fingers against his cheek.

Cassie fell silent. Why did she feel like making conversation was going to be a huge deal?

"So how is work going? We never get a chance to talk anymore." She smiled and reached across the table to take his hand.

"It's great, but it's a lot of work," Josh sighed, "as you very well know. You see me working every night."

"I do," she said.

"It's crazy," Josh said, shaking his head. "Sometimes I honestly don't know what I was thinking, deciding to work in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Yesterday, I had to deal with a man who had both of his legs turned into tree stumps and was walking around in the streets like that. He could hardly walk and kept falling all over everyone. Naturally, we had to work with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to fix it and erase the memories of all the Muggles who were witnesses. We also had to give the man a talking to about the seriousness of it all. Lucky for him, he didn't get into much trouble."

"How did he manage to get his legs turned into tree stumps?" Cassie asked.

"One of his friends was fooling around and performed the spell while the poor guy was sleeping. He did it for a laugh, but it was actually really serious." He shook his head and frowned.

Cassie had to giggle. "That actually would be kind of funny. It's serious that it caused the Ministry so much trouble, though," she added when Josh glanced up at her.

After they had ordered, Josh smiled. "How's that book coming? You haven't given up on it, have you?"

"I'm about to," Cassie groaned. "I feel like everything I write is absolute rubbish and I want to just throw it all away."

"Don't," Josh advised. "You never know unless you try. You might think it's a bunch of rubbish, but the world might not." He tapped her nose and grinned.

"Yeah, but meanwhile, I'm stuck working at Flourish and Blotts," Cassie answered.

"I thought you liked it there. You're assistant manager now and everything!"

"I do like it there! I love it, actually. But I don't want to work there for the rest of my life. I'm ready for a change and to make it big on my own."

"Well, you're going to have to work hard for that to happen. You can't just go days without working like I've noticed you doing with this book. Sometimes days will go by and you haven't made any progress."

"Sometimes the words don't want to come out. I can't force them, so when they do come, I write them, but that can sometimes take a while. Minutes, hours, and yes, sometimes days."

"It's just what I've noticed," Josh said, holding up his hands.

"You don't think I'm working hard enough?" she asked.

"It's not that," he sighed. "It's just that you want this so badly, but it just doesn't seem like you're bending over backwards for it."

"So you want me to do what you're doing? Work nearly around the clock? Besides getting occasional writers block, I do have other duties that prevent me from writing. I have the job at the bookstore, I have a house to take care of, I have dinner to cook almost every night. Or would you rather me not cook anymore?"

"Cassie," Josh said wearily. He took her hand. "Don't get worked up. We've talked about my work schedule before and didn't we agree that it's part of my job and something that I have no control over?"

"Just let me do this my way, okay?" she asked, rubbing her thumb along his hand.

"Fine," Josh shrugged. "I just thought I was giving you advice."

Cassie forced a smile on her face, trying to get over the tense moment. "Let's not talk about work anymore. Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" Josh looked as if he didn't know what else to talk about besides work.

"I don't know. Let's talk about something fun. Remember our first date?"

"A Hogsmeade trip a week after we started dating," Josh said with a smile.

Cassie grinned. "That was fun. We always had a lot of fun back then."

"What about tonight? Is tonight fun?" Josh smirked playfully.

Cassie paused. She didn't know exactly what tonight was. "Yeah, it was a nice surprise," she finally said.

It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.


	6. Chapter 6

"_I wanna know the rest, the rest of you, the worst and best of you, the deepest parts, the beat of your heart. This is where it starts." –Megan and Liz (Rest of You)_

* * *

><p>Fred knocked urgently on the door of number twelve Grimmauld Place. It was the place where Harry had moved in immediately after the war, but Fred hadn't set foot in the vicinity since he was seventeen. If he was being honest with himself, the place had given him the creeps. Now, here he was, back again. While he waited, he hopped impatiently from one foot to the other. Finally, the door swung open.<p>

"Fred?" Harry asked, looking surprised at the unexpected visit.

"Can I come in?" Fred asked.

"Er, sure," Harry answered, stepping to the side to let Fred through. He still looked confused and Fred couldn't blame him. He had come over unannounced after all.

"Sorry that this is so unexpected," Fred said, stepping into the hallway. It was a lot less dingy than he remembered it. "Did you fix this place up?"

"A bit," Harry answered. "Kreacher and I did another thorough cleaning and I managed to add more lighting in places that needed it."

"You kept the troll umbrella stand, I see." Fred gestured towards the oddly shaped, lumpy object sitting a few feet away.

"I had to," Harry shrugged, a small smile appearing on his face. "So, do you want a cup of tea or something?"

"Tea is fine," Fred said.

"Okay," Harry agreed as they walked down the stairs to the kitchen. "I'm not the best at making it, just so you know. I know it's pretty basic, but I'm terrible in the kitchen."

"You're probably better at it than I am," Fred shrugged, taking a seat at the table.

"So, uh," Harry said a few minutes later, setting two cups of tea on the table and sitting across from Fred, "why are you here?"

"Right, about that," Fred said, ready to get down to business. "I need to find someone."

"Okay," Harry said slowly. "I'm not-,"

"I need you to look into the Ministry records to find her."

"What?" Harry asked, his eyes widening behind his glasses.

"You work there. You have access to these things, don't you?"

"I—well—I guess so, but I'm not quite sure. I mean I'm only in training right now to become an Auror. I don't exactly have a job yet."

"But you will once you complete your training. You're basically an Auror already," Fred said, waving his hand.

"Who are you looking for and why?" Harry asked.

Fred explained his situation as quickly as he could. When he finished, Harry just looked at him for a few seconds. "So you don't have a last name for this girl or any idea where she works or lives?"

"No, nothing," Fred said, somewhat apologetically.

Harry stared into his empty tea cup. "I don't know if I can even get into the files, first of all. I might have to wait until my training is complete and I'm qualified as an actual Auror before I can even touch them. Secondly, I don't know what I can find with just a first name."

"How many people do you know named Cassiopeia, Harry?" Fred asked. "And you had no problem sneaking around in school."

"This is the Ministry we're talking about, Fred. It's different and even if Kingsley's the Minister it doesn't make me an exception to the rules."

"You snuck in before," Fred persisted."

"Yeah, but that was so that I could get a Horcrux. It was a lot more important, to be honest, and now I actually have my job at stake."

"You're right. Sorry, Harry." Fred stood up and paused with his hand on the back of the chair. "I guess this means fate is against me, doesn't it?"

"No, I wouldn't say that," Harry answered. "There might be other ways. You know, this kind of reminds me of the Triwizard maze."

"It does?" Fred sat down in the chair again and waited for Harry to continue.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "In the maze, all the champions had one goal, which was go get to the cup, there were obstacles and things interfering. Dead ends, dangerous creatures, spells, riddles, you name it. But there was always a way to get past the obstacles. If we reached a dead end, all we had to do was backtrack and try a different way. That's what you have to do now."

"So you're saying that some of our choices in life lead to dead ends but we always have the opportunity to backtrack and try other options?"

"Exactly," Harry said.

Fred stood up again. "Thanks Harry."

"I'm glad your visit wasn't a total waste of time," Harry said, grinning.

"It wasn't," Fred assured him as they walked towards the front door, which Harry opened again.

"Fred," he called after him.

"Yeah?" He turned around and looked at Harry.

"Don't stress yourself out too much over this girl, okay? If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out."

Fred looked at him for a moment before nodding his head slowly in agreement. In his head, however, he knew that in the end, it would be worth the trouble of trying to find this girl; this girl he hardly knew but couldn't get enough of.

* * *

><p>"So how'd it go?" George asked.<p>

Fred shook his head and sat down on the couch. "Since he's only in training to be an Auror, he doesn't think he has access to what I needed."

George made an apologetic face. "Sorry, mate. What about Hermione?"

Fred gave a small laugh. "If Harry won't do it, Hermione definitely won't."

"I guess you're right," George agreed, "but it's worth a try, though, isn't it?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" George prodded. "She works at Flourish and Blott's when she's not doing her Ministry training. You could try looking for her there."

Fred looked up at his brother and wrinkled his nose. "She isn't going to agree to this. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but just maybe she will. Take a chance."

Fred shook his head in disbelief. "It's like you don't want me around or something."

"I just want you to find this girl and live happily ever after."

"You're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," George answered with a grin.

Fred laughed and stood up. "I'll go tomorrow. If I'm correct, right now we have to finish working on that new invention if we ever want to see it hit the shelves."

"You're just putting off going to see Hermione!" George called as he chased after his brother down the stairs to their workroom.

The next day, Fred decided to walk down to the bookstore instead of Apparating. It wasn't a long walk and it was nice outside. The bells hanging on the door jingled as he entered the building. He hadn't been inside the bookstore in years. He wasn't a big reader, and it had worked out that the last few years he was in school, his mum had picked up his books while he and George picked up the more exciting things.

He found Hermione immediately, shelving books on the far side of the room. He marched over to her. "Hi, Hermione, I-,"

"No," she said, her tone flat. She didn't even look at him.

"I didn't even say anything. How did you-?"

"Harry's already spoken to me," she said, still not looking at him. She quickly continued down the line of shelving, putting books away one by one. "He already told me what you wanted him to do and I won't do it."

"You work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, though. I'm sure it would be easier for you to get to the records."

"I'm in _training_ to work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm in the same position as Harry, and even if I weren't in training, I wouldn't do it. Do you know how many rules that would break?"

"Lots," Fred sighed, sounding dejected.

"Exactly," Hermione answered. She began walking towards the back of the store. Fred followed her, beginning to protest, but then something caught his eye and he froze, his mouth open. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone liked the chapter! Don't forget to review! It just takes a second and plus getting them just makes my day :)**

**Also, a fun fact about the movie _Serendipity..._some people who have seen the movie might have noticed this but I thought I'd share anyway. When John Cusack's character picks up the _Love in the Time of Cholera_ book at the bookstand, there's a Harry Potter book on the table as well. :D**


	7. Chapter 7

"_Get a load of me, get a load of you walking down the street and I hardly know you. It's just like we were meant to be." –Why Can't I (Liz Phair)_

* * *

><p>Fred blinked a few more times. It was definitely real. Cassie was just coming out of the back room and crossing the store. She didn't look his way or notice him at all. He ran after Hermione again.<p>

"Why didn't you tell me you knew her?"

"Knew who?" Hermione sounded exasperated.

"The girl I've been trying to find. You could have said that right from the beginning."

Hermione followed his gaze. "Cassie's the girl you've been looking for? I didn't know. Harry didn't tell me her name."

"What else can you tell me about her?" Fred asked urgently.

"Why don't you go ask her yourself?" Hermione smirked.

"She won't tell me!" It was Fred's turn to sound exasperated now.

Hermione continued to smirk at him. "I'm not going to tell you anything. That would make things a little too easy, don't you think?"

"I don't even know her last name," Fred complained.

Hermione paused for a second. "You really don't know anything about her?"

"No, nothing," Fred answered desperately.

"I guess that doesn't come as a surprise. She wasn't really your type…"

"She's completely my type," Fred argued.

"I said she _wasn't_ your type. Past tense, Fred." Hermione resumed putting away the books in her arms.

"Wasn't?" Fred asked slowly. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"Ah, you caught on to that, have you?" Hermione asked.

"I knew I went to school with her. I figured that much out. I just don't know why I don't remember her."

"I'm still not telling you anything more. Go talk to her yourself."

Fred paused and looked across the room at Cassie. "I suppose I should."

Hermione was looking directly at him now. "What happened to that confidence you used to have? You would never be afraid to talk to a girl."

"It's still there, I'm just—it's still there! I'm not afraid," Fred stammered. He stood up straighter and looked across the room again.

"You are. Maybe it's because Cassie has a boyfriend and isn't falling at your feet."

"I could care less," Fred shrugged.

"Sure," Hermione said sarcastically. "Go," she prodded, giving him a gentle nudge.

Fred stumbled forward a few steps before glancing back at Hermione. She smiled and nodded, so he took a deep breath and marched across the room, picking up a random book as he went. Cassie was facing the bookshelf, putting away a few books. Fred leaned casually against the shelf and held up the book in his own hand.

"Would you mind telling me how much this is?" he asked with a smirk.

"It-," Cassie began to answer, but then she looked up at him and her mouth dropped open. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking at books," Fred answered, keeping his voice as innocent as possible. "Isn't that what people normally do in bookshops?"

Cassie frowned and snatched the book from his hands. "You were looking for a book on sewing?"

"Well I do live on my own now and I thought sewing might come in handy now that-,"

"Oh, save it," Cassie said, thrusting the book back into his arms. "How did you find out I worked here?"

"I didn't," Fred answered, tossing the book onto a nearby display table.

Cassie shot him a look and went to pick it up. "You mean to say that you, of all people, just _chose_ to walk into a bookshop?"

"Hey that's an insult!" Fred said, crossing his arms. "Anyway, I came here to talk to Hermione."

"Ah, so you were distracting the employees."

"I guess you could say that," Fred smirked. "I suppose I'm distracting you right now too." He sighed dramatically.

"Yes, you are," Cassie sniffed. Then, her expression softened. "But I won't get into too much trouble for it."

"Why's that?" Fred wondered aloud.

"I'm the assistant manager. I just got promoted not too long ago, actually."

"Impressive," Fred said with a whistle.

"Yeah, it's great, but it's not my ideal job. It pays while I'm trying to write my book, though."

"You're writing a book?"

Cassie nodded. "I've never written one before and I swear it's going to be the death of me. I feel like everything is rubbish and it's not going to be good enough."

"I'm sure it's fantastic," Fred said confidently. "What's it about?"

Cassie paused. "Why would I tell you?"

"You should tell me because I'm interested," Fred answered.

"You really are?" Cassie's face actually showed excitement at his words.

"Mhm," Fred nodded. "I'm sure whatever you write is going to be interesting. I mean, you're smart. I knew that right off the bat and plus, you were in Ravenclaw, right?"

"Just because I was in Ravenclaw doesn't mean I'm a genius," Cassie answered.

"Yes it does," Fred argued.

"Sometimes Ravenclaws can be other things besides smart," she said. "There are brave Ravenclaws, loyal Ravenclaws and Ravenclaws that aren't so nice. The same goes for the other houses."

Fred just looked at her. "Yeah, but Ravenclaws are most noted for being smart. Most of them are smart. They can have those other traits, but they all have the fact that they're smart and witty in common."

"Stereotypes," Cassie sighed, but Fred noticed her faint smile, the only hint that she was joking, at least partially.

"Anyway," he said, "what if we just go to the Leaky Cauldron again and talk. I found you here completely by chance, so why don't we forget about the napkin and the Sickle and just hang out. You can tell me all about yourself. It must be some sort of sign that we keep meeting, right?"

"Josh wouldn't like that," Cassie laughed. She started to turn away, but Fred grabbed her arm.

"Why are you doing this, then? Why are you playing games with me if you're still with him? Maybe we should just forget about this fate thing and move on; go our own separate ways and never see each other again. It sure doesn't seem to matter to you."

"It does," she whispered. She looked upset. "It does matter. Look, Fred, it's complicated and a long story. There's so much I need to explain and maybe part of the reason I'm doing this is because I don't want to explain it to you just yet."

"Why not?" Fred asked, his voice rising.

"Can you please be quiet?"

"No," he said defiantly, looking into her eyes.

She looked around before setting down the books in her hand and grabbing Fred's arm and pulling him into the back room of the bookshop. "Fine," she whispered. "I go on my lunch break in ten minutes. Do you think you can wait here until I'm ready to go?"

Fred saluted her, a grin spreading over his face. "Yes, I can."

"Of course, you're all happy now that you got what you wanted. I swear, if Josh finds out…"

"He's not going to hurt you again is he?" Fred's smile fell and he looked at her seriously.

"He didn't do that on purpose. It was an accident. He just gets really angry sometimes…"

"Maybe we shouldn't do this. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"Oh, come on, you went through all the trouble of looking for me and asking me to spend time with you and now you're chickening out? Where's that Gryffindor courage?" She smirked and nudged him. Fred's insides flipped at the contact.

"Just because I was in Gryffindor doesn't mean I'm courageous."

Cassie snorted and let out a laugh. Fred felt himself smile at the realization that he had made her laugh. He was used to making people laugh, but with Cassie, it felt like a real accomplishment.

"Oh please," she said. "You are courageous."

"Not all the time," he said honestly. "I'll tell you all about it…one day…" he trailed off dramatically.

Cassie laughed again. "Alright, ten minutes and I'll be back here to get you. Now, just sit, be quiet, and behave yourself until I get back."

"Yes, _mother_," Fred said sarcastically, a playful grin lifting his lips.

Cassie rolled her eyes this time and left the room. Fred walked around, examining the stacks of boxes and books covering almost every square inch of space. He was ecstatic that he had found Cassie, completely by chance. That had to be fate. Maybe this whole thing wasn't a load of rubbish after all.

Ten minutes later, Fred turned at the sound of the door opening. Well, banging open would be the better term. Fred felt his insides plummet. The last person he wanted to see was barging into the room. It looked like Josh had found out.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, another cliffhanger, but I just had to do it...don't forget to review! :) **


	8. Chapter 8

"_We were almost beautiful, a broken piece of art put on display, but we were never possible. Another perfect moment thrown away." –**David Cook (The Last Goodbye)**_

* * *

><p>"Get out," Josh said, his voice low and angry, his hands clenched into fists. Cassie ran into the room behind him and tried to grab his arm, but he shook her off. She stumbled backwards from the force of it.<p>

"Hey," Fred snapped, stepping forward.

"Please, Fred," Cassie said from over Josh's shoulder, "just stop."

"He treats you like dirt, Cassie," Fred said. "Even I can see that."

"Shut up!" Josh yelled. "This is none of your business. It isn't now and it never has been. You never cared about her before, why now?"

"What do you mean 'before'?" Fred asked. "I didn't even know her before."

"Oh, I'm sure you did. For one thing, we were all part of that Dumbledore's Army thing that Harry Potter put together."

"You were?" Fred looked at Cassie, momentarily distracted.

She nodded. "I was going to explain everything to you today," she whispered, "but…"

"Yes, I found out," Josh interrupted in an impatient tone.

"How exactly did you find out?" Fred asked curiously.

"I paid an unexpected visit to Cassie-,"

"It was unexpected alright," Cassie mumbled from behind Josh, rolling her eyes. She mouthed to Fred, "he never visits."

"What was that?" Josh raised his eyebrows.

"I was agreeing with you. Please continue," she said, stepping back and seeming to shrink against the wall. Her eyes were wide and nervous.

"Anyway, I wanted to take her to the ice cream parlor during her break, but she said she couldn't; that she had to work through her break, but I could see it all over her face that what she said wasn't the case. Sure enough, I was right. She was going to spend her break with you after I warned both of you to stay away from each other." Josh stepped closer to Fred until he was right in front of him, eye to eye, staring into his face.

"You don't have any control over what we do," Fred said threateningly, not stepping away from the man in front of him.

"Have you seen her since that night in Hogsmeade?" Josh asked.

"No," Fred said, deciding not to mention when Cassie had come over to ask him about the prank he had pulled. That had been the same night as the Hogsmeade trip, so technically he hadn't seen her since that night. "And running into her today was an accident. I didn't know she worked here until," he glanced at his watch, "about half an hour ago."

"And I suppose taking her out during her break was an accident too? Unplanned? You didn't know it was going to happen?" Josh's voice was rising once more and his face was as red as a tomato.

"Yes," Fred said. "It was spontaneous. It was a spur of the moment decision."

"I don't want you two seeing each other!" Josh roared, spit flying from his mouth. "I don't care if it was planned, accidental or spontaneous!"

"Now, what I would like to know," Fred said calmly, wiping saliva off his cheek and flicking his finger nonchalantly, "is why you are so outraged about me and Cassie seeing each other. I mean, if she's your girlfriend and if she's trustworthy, which I can tell she is then you should have nothing to worry about. She's yours and yours only, right?" He smiled at Josh. It was actually painful to do.

Josh didn't answer right away. Fred noticed Cassie's expression and he could tell she knew the answer to the question he had asked. She knew why Josh was seeing Fred as a threat. He had been so close to getting those answers, too.

Josh was turning red again, but Fred could tell he didn't want to answer the question and was debating with himself whether to talk or keep it in. Apparently, keeping it in won.

"Just stay away from her," he said menacingly, "if you know what's good for you."

"Are you going to throw a plate at me?" Fred asked.

"I didn't throw a plate at her!" Josh yelled. "I threw it at the wall. I didn't mean to hit her! If you think I'm some abusive, angry-,"

"Your voice level sure makes you sound angry," Fred said, in the same calm tone as before.

Josh looked as if he was getting ready to hit Fred, but he seemed to remember the point of the conversation and lowered his hand. His face was still red and angry looking. "Next time, I will hit you," he said in a low tone, "so don't let there be a next time if you want to keep your nose attached to your face. Come on, Cassie."

"Josh," she said quietly. "I'm still working. I can't leave yet."

"Right," he said, taking a breath. "Your break's over now?"

"Yes," she sighed, looking at her watch.

Josh looked at Fred, and Fred noticed the small smirk playing on his lips. "Well, I'll see you tonight then, Cass."

"Sure," she said quietly.

Josh left the room and after a moment of silence, Cassie headed for the door too.

"That's it?" Fred asked. "You're not going to say anything?"

"What do you want me to say?" she screamed, spinning around. Fred actually jumped in fright. "I'm sorry he's such a jerk, yes, but you know he's a jerk and I can tell he doesn't scare you! I hate that he's threatening you but what can I say to him? He's bigger and stronger and if I say something—,"

"You're afraid he'll hit you again."

"No," she said defiantly.

"Yes," Fred whispered. He was still across the room from her and wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her but he didn't want to take that chance yet.

"He's never actually hit me before. Not intentionally."

"He might," Fred said. "Like George said before, it was plates that time but next time it could be your face."

Cassie was looking at the ground and when she looked up again her eyes were full of tears. "Let's just call the whole fate thing off. The napkin, the Sickle, just forget about them. Forget about it all and let's go back to the way it was before I walked into your shop that day."

"No, let's not," Fred said desperately. "I mean maybe we're getting somewhere! What about today? Accidentally meeting here? What was that? That was a sign, wasn't it?"

"No, maybe it wasn't," Cassie said. "Maybe I've been playing into this fate thing too much. Since my name has so much to do with astronomy, I've always been fascinated with fate and all of that mythical stuff. You know, stars aligning and everything, but maybe it's not real. Maybe we're being silly. We're only going to get hurt. You're going to get hurt if you come near me again, and I'm going to get hurt if you let me down again, whether you mean to or not. Not that you meant to before, but…"

"Whoa, wait, back up," Fred demanded. "Let you down again? Before? Cassie, you're letting on that we really knew each other in school, but if I knew you as well as you're letting on, I would remember you. I want answers."

"I don't think I can give them to you. It's too dangerous now," she said. She was looking down at her feet again and wringing her hands.

Fred made an impatient noise of disbelief and ran a hand through his hair. "So this has all been just a game then?" He gave a small laugh. "You talk about me letting you down but did you stop to think about how you're letting me down? You dangle the prospect of answers, of an explanation, in my face and then snatch it away when you're so close to giving it to me."

"I meant to tell you everything! You have to believe me! I was going to tell you everything today, but then Josh came in and you know the rest. I didn't plan for the interruption!"

"Yeah, you didn't plan," Fred repeated with a half laugh. "We didn't plan a lot of things lately, it seems. Maybe you're right. Maybe all of this spontaneous accidental fate stuff is just too dangerous."

Cassie nodded silently, her eyes filling with fresh tears. "I guess this is goodbye, then," she said in a whisper.

Fred didn't answer right away. "Yeah, I guess it is," he said finally. He made his way towards the door, a dejected feeling of failure filling him.

"Fred?" Cassie's quiet voice rang out across the room as he reached the door.

He didn't turn around, but answered her all the same. "Yes?"

"I didn't want it to end this way," she said, her voice still a whisper.

He finally turned his head to the side, looking more at the boxes at her feet than at her. "I didn't either."

"I guess fate was against us," Cassie said, a hint of a bitter laugh in her tone.

"No," Fred said, shaking his head. "It was our choices. We didn't choose the right direction." He finally looked up and could tell by Cassie's expression that she understood the reference to her fate explanation from all those days ago. She didn't say anything more, so with everything in him, Fred forced himself to leave the bookshop.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry to end on another sort of cliffhanger. They're definitely a lot more fun to write than read. Don't forget to review! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

"_When darkness turns to light, it ends tonight."—It Ends Tonight (The All American Rejects)_

* * *

><p>After leaving Flourish and Blott's, Fred slowly made his way down the street. He didn't want to go back to the flat, or the Burrow, or to the Three Broomsticks, or even to Zonko's. He didn't know what he wanted to do.<p>

As he walked with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the ground, the wind picked up and a napkin flew into his leg, sticking there from the force of the wind. Fred stopped, picked it off of his pants, and without a second glance, he crumpled it up and threw it over his shoulder. The wind continued to blow and people's feet moved down the street, blowing, kicking and forcing the napkin into a corner between a shop door and the wall of the building. A small corner of the napkin unrolled, revealing part of a word written in black marker, and began to wave desperately in the wind as if asking for someone to notice.

* * *

><p>As soon as Cassie walked through the door that night, Josh's head snapped up. "So," he began seriously.<p>

"We've agreed to not see each other again," Cassie answered, looking up at him, her face dull and expressionless. Her eyelids felt heavy and she just wanted to sleep and not wake up until everything was better and forgotten about.

"Good," Josh said, smiling now that he had been assured that Cassie wasn't going to be seeing Fred any longer. Unfortunately, Cassie didn't feel the same way.

Cassie almost didn't believe it when Josh immediately went back to the couch and started working again, acting as if she wasn't even there. She'd thought maybe he'd start to change now that their relationship had been threatened, but it didn't seem to be happening and she knew why. Josh had been reassured that their relationship was in no danger. Their trip to Hogsmeade had been a trip all about him buying things for work disguised as a date. Then, when Josh had found out about Fred, he had taken her on a real date and surprised her at work.. Now that he knew Fred wasn't in the picture, he was back to his old self.

Sighing, she set her bag down on one of the chairs in the living room and headed for the stairs. She was tired and wanted to go rest. Maybe she would work on her book to help her relax. Or maybe she wouldn't. She didn't know what she wanted to do.

"Cass?" Josh asked from the couch.

"Yeah?" she responded, turning slightly on the first step.

"What's for dinner?"

She stared at him and blinked a few times. She had half a mind to tell him to make something for himself, but instead she sighed and simply said, "I didn't plan anything."

"Oh," Josh said, "well that's okay. I'll just have a turkey sandwich or something."

"Alright," Cassie said, blinking again in surprise as she assumed he'd be making it himself. She started up the stairs again.

"Cass?"

"Yes?" she answered almost testily as she turned again.

"The kitchen's that way." Josh grinned and gestured with a finger towards the kitchen. "I would make it myself, but there's lots of work to be done."

She sighed and didn't hesitate to show her frustration on her face. "I'm aware," she said grumpily, stomping back down the few steps she had climbed and heading for the kitchen. She made Josh his sandwich, and after thrusting it at him, she ran to her room, flung herself onto her bed and cried harder than she had in a while.

* * *

><p>"Where have you been?" George asked, standing up from the table as soon as Fred walked into the flat that night.<p>

Fred didn't answer right away. Instead, he opened the fridge, rummaged around, grabbed two butterbeers and sat down at the table, placing one of the bottles in front of his twin. George sat down again and wrapped his hands around the bottle, staring at Fred all the while.

Fred opened his butterbeer and took a long drink. "Aren't you going to drink that?" he asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

George silently opened his own drink and took a sip. "What happened today, Fred?" You've been gone all day."

"It's our day off. The shop wasn't open today so it's not like I missed work," Fred shrugged.

"That's not the point," George answered. "The point is that I thought you were going to Flourish and Blott's."

"I did," Fred answered.

"And it took all day?"

Fred shook his head. "I was there for about half an hour."

"Where did you go after that?" George asked. "Wait, never mind that now. Start at the beginning and get to that part last."

Fred took another sip of his butterbeer, thinking over what he was going to say.

"You look terrible," George said suddenly.

Fred nodded. "I feel terrible."

"Something more happened than just Hermione saying 'no,' didn't it?" George guessed.

Fred nodded again. There was never any hiding anything from his twin. With that in mind, he launched into his story.

Ten minutes later, George leaned back in his chair and let out a whistle. "Wow," he said.

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?" Fred asked, a small smile actually appearing on his face. The one time when he actually wanted and needed his twin to talk to him, he didn't have anything to say.

"You just walked away? Just like that?" George asked.

"There's nothing else I can do," Fred sighed.

"I suppose not," George said, "but I guess my question is do you really want to give up?"

"No, but I can't keep doing this if she's still stuck with Josh. I don't see why she won't break up with him. Or at least _stand_ up to him and tell him that she can hang out with whoever she wants."

"Maybe she's afraid of him," George suggested. "She knows him better than we do. Maybe this has to do somewhat with that promotion he got at the Ministry. Maybe she knew he would have a lot of pent up stress and anger about his job and she knew if you continued to do this fate thing then he would eventually snap."

"He's already beginning to it seems," Fred said, thinking of Josh throwing the plates and how he had acted today. Honestly, he felt lucky that he had left the bookshop without a black eye.

"Right, so maybe it is best that you back off. At least for a little while."

Fred looked up to see George smirking. "What are you talking about?" he asked with a sigh and a laugh.

"I'm just saying if you want something, you should go after it. I'm also saying we're experts at pranks and we also have a full stock of Skiving Snackbox sitting downstairs waiting to be used. We can lay low for a while and then start up again trying to get this to work. Think about all that."

Fred smiled at his twin and took a deep breath. "No, George, I think we need to just let this whole thing go."

"Seriously?" George asked in disbelief. He leaned over and rapped on Fred's head with his knuckles. "Is Fred Weasley in there? Where did my twin go? The one who doesn't give up."

"He's still here," Fred said. "I just can't force Cassie to get rid of Josh. I don't want her to get hurt, _I_ don't want to get hurt, and all options seem to lead to someone getting hurt by that scumbag."

"It all leads back to him," George said. "He's the one thing in your way. We need to get rid of him."

"I can't do that," Fred said. "Cassie has to. She has to want it and do it herself. I can't express her feelings for her."

"Okay," George said after a moment, tossing his empty butterbeer bottle in the trash. "Whatever you say, Fred, but if I can't help you get Cassie, then I'm going to help you get over her."

"Oh, really?" Fred smirked. "And how are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to set you up on a blind date," George said, heading for the fireplace and the Floo Powder. "Katie knows plenty of girls from work. Between the two of us, we'll have you set up with someone in no time."

"George, are you sure? Is it too soon?"

"Fred, it's not like you broke up with Cassie. You were never even dating her."

"Don't remind me," Fred grumbled.

"Anyway, my point is, it can't be too soon if you never even had a breakup and haven't you ever heard of the saying about falling off the broom? You have to get right back on and that's what I'm going to help you do."

Fred just shrugged and watched his twin disappear into the fireplace, wondering if his plan was really going to work.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't worry, Fred and Cassie will see each other again. I don't want to ruin anything by saying what will happen, but I can say that this isn't over yet :D Don't forget to leave a review!**


	10. Chapter 10

_"I can't lie you're on my mind, stuck inside my head. I wanna feel your heart beat for me instead." –**Maroon 5 (I Can't Lie)**_

* * *

><p>Nearly two days later, Cassie was organizing a new book display at Flourish and Blotts, in a zombie like state for that matter, when the bell above the door jingled. Instinctively, she looked up and did a double take. A redheaded person was entering the shop. Her heart stopped, but restarted when she realized it wasn't Fred, but George. She watched as he scanned the room. He was looking for her. She wished she could hide somewhere, but before she could leave, he caught her eye and made a beeline for her.<p>

"Cassie," he said, his voice sounding breathless.

"What?" she asked. She couldn't possibly say anything else.

George rubbed the back of his neck. "I was wondering if there was any way you would talk to Fred again and maybe, I don't know, go on a date with him?"

Cassie's mouth dropped open. "Go on a date with him? Are you mental? Did he tell you what happened the other day?"

George nodded. "He did, but he hasn't been the same since. I wanted to surprise him and get you to go on a date with him."

"I'm guessing he doesn't know you're here, then," Cassie replied.

"No," George answered, shaking his head. "I came on my own."

"George, I can't," Cassie sighed. "I still have a boyfriend and if I went on a date with Fred..." she trailed off and inhaled through her nose. "Plus, Fred hates me now. He thinks I'm an idiot."

"He doesn't!" George exclaimed, "and why don't you just break up with Josh?"

Cassie just shook her head.

"Are you blind?" George asked. "Or do you want to be in that kind of relationship?"

"George, lower your voice," she whispered. She was getting into an argument with Fred's twin brother now. Maybe it was better before she had ever talked to either of them. She couldn't take getting into arguments with everyone. Josh was already enough.

"No," George answered roughly. He paused and crossed his arms. "I warned Fred that this would happen."

"That what would happen?"

"That you would just lead him on and hurt him."

"I didn't mean to hurt him and I had-have-no intention of leading him on! We both agreed together that we wouldn't see each other again and don't you think I'm hurt by this too?"

"You've been nothing but stress," George answered. "Fred was doing everything he could to see you again but you keep dancing away as if this is just a game."

"It's not," she whispered. "Please believe me."

George just looked at her before shaking his head "I don't know. All I know is my twin brother is upset and it's all because of you." With that, he turned and left the shop while Cassie stood there, dumbfounded and hurt.

* * *

><p>Cassie sat at her desk staring out the window. She had been working on her book and had been on a roll. Now, she was taking a little break, but it still wasn't exactly a break as she was still thinking.<p>

She was thinking about Fred and her whole fate theory as well as fate in general. The day with Fred at Flourish and Blott's had been a year ago and she hadn't stopped thinking about Fred and fate since. It nearly killed her to think about him since he most likely hated her, but she wanted to know more than ever if fate was real and what different people described fate as. And of course, when she thought of fate, she thought of Fred. She was also writing her book on fate, so he almost never left her mind. If she was being honest, he would still be on her mind even if she didn't think of him whenever she thought of the word 'fate'.

On a more positive note, the book had been coming along incredibly. She had scrapped everything she had written before, topic, notes, every last remnant, and started anew the day after she had said goodbye to Fred at Flourish and Blott's. Ever since, she had been researching, working, writing and tweaking like mad. It was taking a long time, but she wanted it to be just perfect.

She was still living in the same house she had been in and Josh was still living with her. He had been a lot happier once Fred had gone out of the picture for good, but he was still working way too hard and way too much. After Fred left Flourish and Blott's that day, everything had gone back to the way it had been between her and Josh and Cassie couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

They hadn't been on a date in a year and he had come home late on his birthday. His birthday dinner had been sitting on the table, nearly cold, and Cassie had been sitting alone in a new dress she had bought just for the occasion.

And yet, she was still with him. Why? She asked herself that question all the time. She questioned herself for not breaking up with him or standing up to him. She questioned herself for putting up with his messes and his lateness and his carelessness, but most of all she questioned herself for letting Fred walk away that awful day one year ago.

She could have gone after him. She knew where he lived and where he worked, but she really couldn't go find him. What would she say? She had to get rid of Josh first, which she wasn't sure how to do yet. He would most certainly get angry. Very angry.

She hadn't seen, heard from, or mentioned Fred in a year and she wasn't sure if she wanted to change that just yet. It could possibly enrage Josh even more than last time and she didn't want that.

She shook her head to clear her mind and went back to her writing. Today was Friday. Josh wasn't going to be home until late. He was spending the night with his friends; the one night a week he actually got the opportunity to. Of course, he couldn't make time for her though. He never had time for her anymore.

Around dinnertime, Cassie decided to go pick up some food. She wasn't really in the mood for cooking. She wasn't in the mood for The Leaky Cauldron either, so she decided to Apparate to the Three Broomsticks.

She Apparated to a spot just down the street from her destination and walked down the sidewalk. It was a beautiful night and she found herself feeling relaxed and happy. She took a deep breath, breathing in the warm summer air. As she reached the pub's windows, she happened to glance inside and gasped.

Fred was sitting at a booth on the far side of the room from the windows. Despite the distance from where she was standing, Cassie could still see him clearly. She hadn't seen him in a year, and while that was shock enough, it wasn't the most shocking. It wasn't what made her heart drop and her stomach clench.

Fred was sitting across from George and Katie. That was fine. It was normal. The horrible part was that next to Fred was a girl. A pretty, sparkly-eyed girl who was laughing at something he had just said.

Cassie watched as Fred rested his arm across the back of the booth and the girl snuggled into his side, still laughing. Fred was laughing now too and George and Katie were smiling.

She wanted to look away, but her eyes currently weren't listening to her brain. She couldn't make them move. She didn't know why seeing Fred with another girl made her so upset. From the looks of it, he was in a relationship. He had found someone else and he had moved on while she was still stuck. Stuck with Josh, stuck thinking about Fred, and stuck still obsessing over fate. Well, if fate was in fact real, it was slapping her in the face right now.

She finally turned on her heel and marched away in the other direction, Apparating away at the end of the street. The Leaky Cauldron was suddenly looking like the perfect place to be right now.

* * *

><p>Fred sat in the booth at the Three Broomsticks, next to a girl named Sierra. She was pretty enough and really nice too, but Fred wasn't getting as into the date as he had hoped. He hadn't expected himself to, though. George and Katie were trying to find him someone. They had been trying since last year, setting him up with a blind date every month. Then, they would go on double dates together.<p>

Twelve. That was the number of girls Fred had met and gone on blind dates with in the past year. He didn't know what was wrong with him. A good number of them had been girls he would have gone for, but when he was on the dates, he just wasn't feeling it. He had a good time, but he was never in the mood to see the girl again.

George and Katie, bless them, hadn't given up or gotten upset or discouraged. They only tried harder to help Fred move on from Cassie, but it was apparently taking longer and much more effort than they had all anticipated.

Fred leaned back into the booth and rested his arm over the back. He immediately realized the consequence of what he had done and felt his stomach clench for a second as Sierra leaned into him and rested her head against his shoulder. She really was a nice girl. He probably would have liked her if his head wasn't so occupied with Cassie.

Darn Cassie. He had heard through the grapevine that she was still with Josh so she obviously hadn't split up with him in the past year. That must mean she really was happy with him. Either that or scared. Fred thought about it. Cassie wasn't pathetic, but Josh could be a scary person, especially, it seemed, when he was mad or stressed. Cassie was probably just being too nice and giving him the benefit of the doubt.

He shook his head. He couldn't afford to be thinking of Cassie. It wasn't going to help him. He was on a date with Sierra now. Cassie was old news; she was in the past. Gone. Done. Over. Unfortunately.

As Fred laughed at something George had said, he was overcome with an odd fear that he was going to be stuck forever pining after one girl he was never going to be with.

* * *

><p>Flinching slightly, Cassie gingerly applied ice to the bruise on her arm. It was Monday night and Josh had come home from work more stressed than usual. Cassie had been working on her book and she had lost track of time. Naturally, Josh had been hungry, cranky and stressed, and when he had come home to no dinner on the table, well, he had apparently just lost it.<p>

He had overreacted in Cassie's opinion. It had been an accident. She hadn't meant to forget about dinner. She had been hungry too but she hadn't even noticed due to her focus on her book, which she had thrown herself into to numb the pain of seeing Fred with another girl. Nonetheless, Josh had yelled and aimed a kick at the cabinet, where her arm just so happened to be conveniently in the way as she reached for a bowl. It had hurt something terrible. She was actually lucky it wasn't broken.

Josh had apologized like mad, but Cassie wasn't as easy to forgive him this time. It had turned into a shouting match. Josh claimed that he had put in a long day at work and asked if it was too much to expect a meal on the table. Cassie claimed she had lost track of time while she worked on something that was hopefully going to be how she made her living. She also told him that she cooked every night without fail and that he was the one who always showed up late.

In short, the night had ended terribly and now Cassie was sitting on the edge of the tub, the bathroom door locked and ice on her arm. She was still seeing images of Fred with that other girl and they wouldn't go away. She lifted the ice and stared at the blue-purple mark as her brain whirred. She knew why she was upset about seeing Fred on a date. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but deep down she knew it was true. There had to be some way to fix this. She couldn't stay stuck in a dead end forever.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone likes the chapter! Don't forget to review!**


	11. Chapter 11

"_And my mates are all there trying to calm me down 'cause I'm shouting your name all over the town. I'm swearing if I go there now I can change her mind, turn it all around."—**Nothing (The Script)**_

* * *

><p>"Fred, George, I'm glad you made it," Mrs. Weasley said, hurrying out of the Burrow's kitchen to hug her sons.<p>

"Of course we made it, Mum," George said with a laugh. "As much as it pains us to admit it, your cooking is much better than ours."

"Is that the only reason you come home, for the food?" their mother teased.

"Of course not," Fred gasped, pretending to be offended. "We miss you terribly. We just can't cook to save our lives."

"That doesn't surprise me in the least, actually, you not being able to cook," Mrs. Weasley admitted, turning back to the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready," she called over her shoulder. "Everyone else is here; Bill, Fleur, Percy, Ginny, Ron, Harry and Hermione. They're all in the kitchen. Your father's talking about his plug collection." She smiled and rolled her eyes as she gave a small chuckle.

Fred and George followed their mother into the next room. Fred took a deep breath through his nose. "It smells great in here," he commented as he and George greeted everyone with a wave and took their seats at the table.

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Weasley said from the stove. She turned and placed the food on the table. There was a lot of noise all at once as everyone began talking and trying to serve themselves at once.

"So," Mrs. Weasley said once everyone had started eating, "Fred, how did your date go on Friday?"

"He didn't like her," George said dismally, shooting Fred a perplexed glance.

"Oh." Mrs. Weasley looked disappointed as well. No one else spoke for a few seconds and Fred took the opportunity to defend himself.

"It's not that I didn't like her. I did, but-,"

"But what?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "I'd really like to know what this is all about, Fred."

"I think we all would," Mr. Weasley added.

"It's not like you," Ginny said. "Usually you love going on dates and chasing after girls."

Fred shot her a look. If she had been within reach, he would have given her a kick under the table. She smirked at him as if she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Ginny does have somewhat of a point," Mrs. Weasley said. "You haven't been exactly yourself and we're worried, Fred."

"Of course I have," Fred objected. "I have definitely been acting like myself."

"You have," George agreed, "except for the fact that every time Katie and I try to set you up with someone, you don't want to continue to see them. I really thought you and Sierra would hit it off."

"We might have before…" Fred trailed off.

"Before what?" Percy asked.

"Before Cassie," George said.

"Who eez Cassie?" Fleur asked, looking interested.  
>"A girl he liked," George answered.<p>

"Still likes, from the sound of it," Ron added with a smirk.

"What? No, we agreed to move on and not see each other again." Fred suddenly found his peas very fascinating. "Plus, she has a boyfriend."

"Zat does not mean zat you do not like her," Fleur pointed out.

"If she's in a relationship, then you can't do anything about it," Ginny pointed out. "It's up to her to deal with that and what she wants."

"Exactly," Fred said, looking up. "That's what I said."

"So since that's so clear to you, then why haven't you moved on?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Eet eez because Cassie having a boyfriend does not change zee fact that Fred steel likes her. Moving on eez sometimes easier said than done," Fleur said.

Fred nodded in agreement, looking back down at his peas again and trying to corral them into a neat pile with his fork.

"But sometimes you have to do it!" Mrs. Weasley argued. "Sometimes things don't work out the way you want to and you have to move on. You don't have a choice."

"You have to, yes," Hermione chimed in, "but that doesn't make it easier. I understand what Fleur's saying."

"Fred," Mrs. Weasley said in a motherly tone. "All I want—all _we_ want," she gestured to the people sitting around the table, "is the best for you. We want you to be happy. That's all."

"I am happy," he mumbled. He definitely didn't sound it but he didn't need his family jumping down his throat about Cassie. If they wanted him to move on, they certainly weren't helping him do it, even if they did mean well.

"No, you're not," George said.

Bill leaned back in his chair and brought his hands behind his head. "Do you want me to go take care of this boyfriend of hers? I can get him out of the picture and then you can have Cassie all to yourself."

"Bill!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"I just meant I could scare him away. You know, with my threatening demeanor."

"That hair and earring just might do the trick. It certainly scares me a little. Why don't you just let me cut it?"

"Mum, you've been asking me that for years. The answer is still no," Bill laughed.

"Well, what about that earring?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It stays," Ginny said. "I think it's cool."

"What do you think, Fleur?" Bill asked.

"I personally like zee earring very much," Fleur said, tapping the earring lightly.

"Well that's it then," Bill said as if that settled everything.

"You mean to say you value her opinion more than your own mother's?" Mrs. Weasley was half joking and half serious.

Bill just laughed and shook his head. "I value both of your opinions, but I like the earring, so it stays."

"I have to agree." Fred looked at Bill and nodded. He was eager to further direct the conversation from himself and his atrocious love life.

"Ah, I know what you're doing, Fred," George said, smiling and patting him on the back, "and it won't work. We're not finished with you yet."

"Let's leave him alone for tonight," Mr. Weasley said, obviously noticing Fred's discomfort. Fred glanced up and looked around the table. Harry and Hermione were giving him apologetic looks which made Fred feel worse. He didn't want people feeling sorry for him. He just wanted the same thing his family wanted; to be happy.

* * *

><p>"Fred," Bill said after dinner. He put a hand on Fred's shoulder and steered him outside where it was quiet and private, something that didn't go unnoticed by Fred. He knew what was coming.<p>

"What is it?" he asked, deciding to play dumb.

"Are you really happy?" Bill asked, turning to look at Fred. He looked at Fred with that same look he had used when they were younger. It was the look that clearly said that he wanted the truth.

Fred took a breath. "No." It was no use lying to Bill. He had always been incredibly good at being able to tell when someone was lying, especially Fred and George.

Bill just looked at him, studying his face intently. Fred looked down at the ground. "Fred," Bill began, "look at me."

Fred sighed and raised his head. Bill was still staring at him. "What?" he asked glumly.

"This won't hurt forever," Bill said. "This rejection, I mean."

"Thanks for reminding me," Fred mumbled.

"Fred, stop and let me talk," Bill answered, his tone the familiar no-nonsense one. "Things have a funny way of working out sometimes, but if you want to be happy, you have to do it yourself. What you said about Cassie breaking up with her boyfriend being her decision goes for you as well. If you want to be happy, _you_ have to do something about it. You have to want to be happy. _Do_ you want to be happy?"

"Of course I do," Fred answered.

"Sometimes," Bill continued, "things don't happen the way you want them to. You have to learn to accept it."

"I don't need a lecture, Bill," Fred said, looking up.

"I'm trying to help you. You're my little brother. I hate to see you miserable. Plus, it's just not you. Misery doesn't suit you."

"I don't think I look that miserable."

"You probably don't, but I've known you forever. You're my brother. I can tell when you're hiding feelings."

"A blessing and a curse, I guess," Fred answered.

Bill nodded. "So," he said, causing Fred to look at him. "Is she pretty?"

"Not helping!" Fred yelped, reaching down, tearing up some grass and throwing it at Bill, who ran forward and caught Fred in a headlock.

"I'm still stronger," he laughed.

"I'm still quicker," Fred said, tearing himseslf away and running towards the back door.

* * *

><p>Fred and George stayed at the Burrow for a while longer and Fred was grateful that the conversation never wandered back to Cassie again. He didn't want to talk about it anymore.<p>

It wasn't until late that night that they finally left for the flat. They started walking towards the gate so that they could Apparate. When they had gotten halfway across the yard, Fred saw something white blow under his foot that looked like paper or something similar. He didn't really care. He picked it up, muttering about people littering and planning to throw the trash away when he got home when George grabbed his arm out of nowhere.

"Don't," he said urgently. His eyes were wide and he looked shocked.

"Why not? It's trash," Fred answered, looking at George as if he were crazy.

"No," George whispered, prying the white object from Fred's hand. He then saw it was a napkin and a second later, as George began to unfold it, he saw the black ink standing out even though the napkin was now dirty and wrinkled.

Fred clapped a hand to his mouth. "Bloody hell," he said, his words muffled beneath his hand.

George was staring down at the napkin and shaking his head. "I don't believe it."

"How?" Fred asked. "How did it get way over here from Diagon Alley?"

"The wind I guess. Nature, people, that kind of thing."

"But to come all the way to the Burrow?"

"Fred," George said, handing his brother the napkin. "If this isn't fate, I don't know what is."

Fred took the napkin and stared at it in disbelief. This was it. He read the name and address out loud, his voice a whisper.

George let out an excited whoop and clapped Fred on the back. "This is it, Freddie! Go get her!"

"Go now?" Fred asked.

"Yes, now! Like I said, if this isn't fate, then I don't know what is. You're going to get her no matter what it takes."

"You're right. I'll see you back at the flat later then?"

"I'll be waiting up for you. This is a story I've _got_ to hear."

Fred Apparated straight to the address written on the napkin and, tucking it into his pocket, he headed for the door. His heart was racing madly. He had no idea what he was going to say or if the napkin would even convince Cassie. It was completely possible that she wouldn't even care and just remind him that they had decided to forget all about it. He was also praying that Josh wasn't home. He didn't feel like getting punched today.

After he knocked on the door, he shifted from one foot to the other, staring down at the crumpled, worn and dirty napkin in his hands. He couldn't believe that this papery object had survived a whole year and of all places, it had blown to the Burrow on a night he was there. Maybe fate wasn't complete rubbish after all.

He heard the door open and looked up, a smile forming on his face, expecting to see Cassie, but instead his heart sunk and his stomach clenched. It was Josh.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. He glanced over his shoulder, back into the house, before stepping outside and slamming the door behind him. "I thought I told you to stay away from Cassie or did you think there was an expiration date on that?"

"No, I have to talk to her," Fred said urgently.

"About what? How did you get this address anyway?"

"I don't know." The last thing he was going to do was get Cassie in trouble.

"What's this?" Josh ripped the napkin out of Fred's hands and read it. "This is her handwriting. When did she give this to you?"

"Last year," Fred said. "I haven't seen her at all recently, I swear, but I found this tonight and-,"

"You found this? What do you mean you 'found' it?"

"It's a long story. Can I just see Cassie?"

Josh took a step towards him and poked him in the chest. Fred took a step back and almost fell backwards off the front steps. "I make the rules around here and I say you can't see her. So back off!"

"No," Fred said, grabbing Josh's wrist and lowering his hand.

"What did you say?" Josh's eyes narrowed even more.

"I said no," Fred answered calmly. "I need to talk to her and you can't stop people from coming to visit. Plus, what if she wants to see me?"

"She doesn't," Josh answered. "She told you to get lost a year ago."

"Yeah, only after you basically forced her to!"

"I didn't force her to do anything! I-,"

"Josh, what's going on? Who are you yelling at?" Cassie appeared in the doorway behind Josh. When she saw Fred her mouth dropped open and she just gaped at him.

"Cassie, just go inside," Josh said quietly, turning to Cassie and putting his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her backwards. She shook his hands off, her eyes never leaving Fred.

"What are you doing here?" She stepped around Josh, who looked less than thrilled, and came to a stop in front of Fred.

"I came to see you," he whispered. He grabbed the napkin from Josh and showed it to Cassie. She took it and her mouth fell open again. She looked as if she was having trouble breathing as she took the napkin from Fred's hand.

"Cassie, what is that?" Josh asked impatiently. "It's your handwriting."

"Hm?" she asked, looking up.

"He said he found it. Why was there a napkin floating around with your name and address on it? That's dangerous and stupid and-,"

"I was hoping it would fall into the hands of the right person," she whispered, meeting Fred's gaze. He couldn't help but smile.

"What does that mean?" Josh asked. "Who would you need to give your address to and why couldn't you just hand it to them?"

"It's a long story," Cassie said, smiling and still looking at Fred, who smiled back.

Josh looked between the two of them. "Hold on a minute. Did you want_ him_ to find it?"

Cassie didn't answer and neither did Fred. Josh must have taken their silence as a confirmation because he shoved Cassie out of the way. She fell into the railing and Fred made a move to help her, but Josh caught his arm and swung his fist. It made contact with Fred's nose and Fred felt and heard it break. That didn't stop him from hitting Josh back. He tried to hit every inch of him that he could reach. He would have taken out his wand but there wasn't time and he wanted to hurt Josh for hurting him and trying to hurt Cassie.

"Fred! Josh, stop it!" Cassie screamed. "Both of you! Please stop!"

Fred finally sank to the ground, perching himself on the top step and clutching his nose, breathing heavily through his mouth. Blood was pouring from his nose and he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain.

Cassie knelt down beside him. "Josh, you hurt him! You hurt him!" She sounded on the verge of tears.

"He deserves it," Josh yelled. "Now get inside."

"No, Josh we need to fix his nose! Oh, God, look how much blood there is."

Fred opened his eyes and looked into Cassie's face. "Just go inside before he hurts you too," he whispered so that Josh wouldn't hear.

"No, he won't," Cassie whispered back, "and if he does, I can handle it."

"Cassie," Josh barked. "Get inside!" He grabbed her arm and Cassie let out a small squeak as he roughly pulled her to her feet and shoved her inside. "And you." Fred looked up, still clutching his nose, as Josh stood in the doorway, glaring down at him. "Get off the doorstep. You finally look like the pathetic person you are."

Fred pulled out his wand, but Josh, with a reflex quicker than Fred had anticipated, kicked it out of his hand. Instead, Fred resorted to reaching out to try and grab Josh's ankle, but Josh shut the door against his hand.

At once, Fred stood up and ran to the window to the left of the door, cupping his hands around his eyes so that he could see through it. He saw Josh and Cassie, clearly in an argument. Cassie was backing up towards the stairs, but she seemed really angry. Josh was following her, yelling and gesturing wildly.

Fred felt a little guilty that this was all happening because of him, but at the same time, he knew Josh was a jerk. He couldn't help but hope that this argument would end Cassie's relationship with Josh. If they had to break up on account of him, then so be it.

He backed away from the window and knelt to the ground, searching for his wand in the darkness. He crawled around for a few minutes before he found it. Luckily, it was still in one piece. He Apparated back to the flat and headed straight for the kitchen, hoping to get his nose cleaned up. The pain which had subsided earlier once he had been distracted was now coming back full force.

"Fred, is that you?" George called from the living room.

"Yeah," Fred answered. He stood at the sink, letting the water run and moving his finger back and forth through it. He was actually nervous to hear what George would have to say about the night's events.

"How'd it go?" George asked, now standing in the kitchen doorway.

Fred picked up an old towel and ran it through the water before dabbing it to his face. "Ow," he muttered. He should probably fix his nose first.

"Fred?" George asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nudding," Fred answered, mentally cursing the odd way his voice sounded. For some reason, he didn't want George to know he had gotten hurt, but it was going to come out eventually when he retold the story.

"Fred," George said, placing a hand on Fred's shoulder and turning him around. He gasped and his eyes widened. "What happened to you?"

"I'll tell you after you fix my nose," Fred answered.

"Yeah, you better," George muttered, holding up his wand. He fixed Fred's nose and it snapped back into place.

"Thanks," Fred said, wiping the blood off.

"Don't mention it," George responded, sitting down. "Now tell me what happened."

Fred took a deep breath and sat across from his brother. "Do you want a butterbeer?" He stood up and went to get one.

"Fred." George spoke his name in a slight warning tone. Fred knew that his brother knew he was putting off telling the story.

"Fine," Fred said, "I take it that you don't want one." He grabbed his own butterbeer and sat down again, finally launching into the story of what had happened that evening.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter is longer than usual, but I hope everyone likes it :) Don't forget to review! I love reading them!**


	12. Chapter 12

"_I can't keep up and I can't back down, I've been losing so much time." –**Lifehouse (You and Me)**_

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><p>"Wow," George said slowly when Fred finished retelling his story.<p>

"Yeah," he agreed, "wow."

"You're going to go back, right?" George asked.

Fred just stared. "You're mental. How can I go back with that idiot around?"

"You can go when he's at work," George smirked. "Better yet, Flourish and Blott's is closed tomorrow so Cassie will be home and Josh won't be. I won't even mind that you'll be taking time off work."

A smile began to form on Fred's face before it fell again. "I can't. She'll tell him."

George shook his head. "From what you told me about her reaction, she was glad to see you. Their relationship's ending. I can feel it. You're almost there, Fred. You have to do this. I'm completely serious."

Fred looked up at the ceiling. "You're right. I can't stop now. Not when I finally found the napkin. That really changed everything."

"You're crazy about her," George said. "Even after all this time and even after still not knowing anything about her."

"Maybe that's fate, working in weird strange ways. If I didn't like her this much, I wouldn't be trying so hard."

George nodded. "So go back tomorrow when Josh is at work. Talk to Cassie. Maybe she'll give you some answers."

"If Josh gives me another broken nose, you're going to pay," Fred joked.

"If you say so," George smiled. "I have a feeling this is going to work out, Fred. I was skeptical at first, but now I'm into it and it's entirely your fault."

"It's all Cassie's fault. Her and her astrological obsession."

"Yeah, blaming her is a better idea. I like it," George said with a small, satisfied nod.

"Me too," Fred smirked, standing up and heading into the living room.

"Fred," George began suddenly. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What?" he asked. He turned around and faced his twin. He had heard something in his voice. It sounded like guilt.

"I should have told you sooner. I know we don't keep things from each other, but a year ago, after you and Cassie agreed to not see each other again, I went to see her at Flourish and Blott's and asked her to go on a date with you. I had hoped she had broken up with Josh and she would agree to be your first and only blind date, but she hadn't broken up with him. It was stupid of me to think she would have."

Fred didn't say anything. He stood frozen with his hand on the doorknob. "You did that for me?" he asked finally.

George nodded. "I knew you were upset and I wanted you to be happy. I even got into an argument with Cassie because I thought she was intentionally hurting you or leading you on. I should have told you this sooner."

"George," Fred said, smiling at his twin. "Thank you. I appreciate what you did."

"Tell Cassie I'm sorry for yelling at her when you see her," George smiled warily.

"I think you should tell her yourself," Fred answered.

"Are you implying that you aren't giving up?"

"Oh yes," Fred grinned. "That is exactly what I'm implying.

* * *

><p>Fred knocked on Cassie's door for the second time in two days. He hoped she would open the door soon. He felt somewhat uneasy standing out here where everyone could see.<p>

Finally, the door swung open and Cassie stood there, staring at him in surprise. "Why are you here?" she finally asked in a tone that clearly said he was an idiot for coming back.

"I had to see you. We didn't get to talk last night."

Cassie looked at the sky, then at the ground and finally back at Fred. "Come in," she said, stepping back from the door.

Smiling, Fred stepped into her house and looked around. "It's very neat and orderly."

"Yeah, except this whole area," she gestured to the couch and coffee table, "is usually a mess when Josh is home doing work. He sits here for hours with all of his papers spread out."

Fred looked back at her, a serious expression on his face. He didn't want to beat around the bush anymore. "I found the napkin," he said.

"I know," she answered, "but what I don't know is why you're here. Shouldn't you be with your girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" Fred had no idea what she was talking about.

"I saw you in the Three Broomsticks not too long ago with a girl. It looked like you were dating."

Fred closed his eyes and let out a groan. "No, she's not my girlfriend. George and Katie set us up on a blind date, but it didn't work out. I haven't seen her since that day."

"Oh," was all Cassie said. She slowly sat on the couch and jumped up again. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? I can make us something."

"Cassie," Fred reached out and grabbed her arm. She spun to face him and looked into his eyes. She looked afraid. "What are you so afraid of? Is it him?"

Cassie didn't answer, but slid her arm from Fred's grasp and rolled up the sleeve of the opposite arm. Fred saw a bruise fading from the skin. "Did he do that?" he gasped, gingerly taking her arm and leaning closer to inspect it.

She nodded. "Not too long ago."

"I'm sorry," Fred whispered. Without thinking, he pulled her into a hug and to his vague surprise, she hugged him back, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into his chest. He felt her take a deep breath before she let go quickly. All too quickly in Fred's opinion.

"Sit," she said gently, leading him to the couch. They sat next to each other and didn't say anything for a moment. "I think I owe you an explanation," she finally said.

"Yeah, I think so," Fred answered quietly.

She took a deep breath. "We went to school together, but you clearly don't remember me."

Fred shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I wish I did and I don't know how I don't remember but-,"

"I know why," she said, looking at her hands. "I was in Ravenclaw and you were in Gryffindor. We didn't have any classes together, but I saw you in the hallways and at meals all the time. I joined Dumbledore's Army, same as you."

"If you saw me, how did I not see you?" Fred asked.

"I'm getting to that if you would just be patient," she said, smiling softly and giving him a playful shove.

"Sorry, continue," he said, smiling back.

"You probably did see me but never thought anything of it. Consciously, at least. I was a nobody. I was-,"

"I'm sure you weren't a nobody," Fred argued.

"To you, I was," she answered. "I was incredibly shy for most of my years at school. Besides that, I had a gap in my teeth that I was incredibly self conscious about. It wasn't very big, but to me it was huge and I hated it. I thought it was ugly."

"I'm sure it wasn't," Fred countered, "but if it bothered you, why didn't you fix it with magic? Hermione had Madam Pomfrey shrink her teeth a little bit."

"My parents wouldn't let me and unlike Hermione, I never had an opportunity to have anyone fix it. My parents thought the gap made me who I was." She shrugged. "I guess it makes sense, but I hated it. It added to me being shy because I never wanted to talk and let anyone see it."

"Well, you obviously ended up getting it fixed," Fred said.

Cassie nodded. "When I turned seventeen, I used magic to fix it myself. I was of age, so why not, right? My parents tried to get me to keep it, but I was hearing none of it. I was sick of that gap."

"You did a good job fixing it."

She smiled. "Thank you. Anyway, you and I didn't talk. You didn't know me so you had no reason to and I wouldn't have ever dared to talk to you."

"Why not? I'm a very friendly guy," Fred smiled widely.

Cassie laughed. "I know that. I've always known that, but you were so popular and funny. Everyone knew who you were. Me, on the other hand, I was shy and that gap made it even worse because like I said, it made me not want to talk much. I was embarrassed by it. Now, I see it was stupid to be so embarrassed."

"I still would have talked to you," Fred said. "I have nothing against shy people with gaps in their teeth."

Cassie laughed again. "Again, I know, but I _liked_ you Fred." She smiled when his mouth dropped open. "I liked you for a long time. Huge crush, very embarrassing." She waved her hand around and looked at the ceiling, unable to look at Fred any more. "I didn't think you would ever notice me. I thought it would be worthless to attempt to say anything to you."

Fred shook his head. "I never knew."

"That was the point. Weren't you listening?" Cassie asked, shaking her head and smiling.

"Is that what you meant before, that day in Flourish and Blott's, when you said I had let you down unintentionally? I disappointed you by not noticing you."

"You didn't mean it," Cassie answered quickly. "I don't blame you. Part of it is my fault. I could have tried to talk to you, but I didn't because I was afraid to. I was afraid of getting rejected and embarrassed. I actually gave up after a while and then I started talking to Josh more. He had liked me forever and I finally started to like him back. We started dating May of seventh year, not too long after you and George left school. That was very impressive by the way. I've always wanted to tell you that."

"Thank you," Fred said quietly, staring at Cassie. "I've sometimes wondered about that."

"Wondered about what?"

"I've wondered if dropping out of school was the best thing. It seemed it at the time, but it ended up being in front of most of the school and everyone knows that George and I are school drop outs."

"Everyone also knows that you run a very successful joke shop and are doing better than a lot of kids in our year that completed all of their schooling."

"Really?" Fred asked quietly.

"Really," Cassie answered. "Don't be embarrassed and don't regret your decision. You knew what you wanted, you still do, and you worked hard to get it."

Fred nodded. "Thanks."

Cassie reached over and squeezed his hand, but let go quickly. "Anyway, as I was saying, Josh wasn't very popular and you pulled quite a few pranks on him."

"He was such an easy target and George and I didn't like him very much," Fred admitted. "It was never anything harmful, though."

"I know that," Cassie said. "I must admit, your pranks were usually quite amusing, but you know Josh. He doesn't think that stuff is ever amusing or funny."

"Does he know you used to like me?" Fred asked, the gears in his head turning madly.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded.

"So that's why I'm such a threat to him now," Fred said. "He already doesn't like me because I made him miserable by pulling pranks on him and to make it worse, he knew you liked me and now I show up out of the blue."

"Yes, after years of not seeing each other, here you are."

"I'd be angry too," Fred said honestly, "but he should have handled it better. I honestly didn't know any of this."

"I think he assumed you did and that you were doing this on purpose."

"Ah, the power of communication," Fred said. "If only Josh knew."

"I'll say," Cassie mumbled.

"He doesn't treat you right." It was more of a statement than a question.

"We haven't had a real date that I actually enjoyed in a very long time. He works constantly and uses free day to spend time with his friends. He expects me to wait on him and he's never on time for dinner," Cassie confessed. "My parents think he's taking advantage of me."

"Maybe because he is," Fred said gently. "I mean, he's living here in your house and he just sits here doing work and eating food that you make him. He doesn't repay you by telling you he appreciates it. That is, _if_ he appreciates it."

"I'm sure he does. Deep down." Cassie blew a puff of air out of her mouth.

"Do you really want to be in this relationship?" Fred asked.

Cassie looked at him and bit her lip. "I don't think I do," she whispered. "I think that's why when I saw you I started this whole fate experiment. I wanted to know what to do. I wanted a sign telling me if I should be with Josh."

"Weren't his signs enough? Disrespecting you? Working all the time? Coming home late?"

"I wanted more than those signs. I wanted to know _who_ exactly I was supposed to be with. Maybe," her voice lowered even more and she looked down again, "just maybe, I was hoping for fate to give me a way out. Maybe I was hoping fate would tell me that I belonged with you, and maybe I've started to like you again. Maybe I've started to like you a lot. Or maybe I never stopped liking you."

Fred's heart was pounding with nerves and victorious excitement. Those were the best words he had heard all day. "Do you want to know why it didn't work out with the girl on the blind date?"

"Why?" Cassie whispered, looking straight at him.

He stared right back into her green eyes and swallowed. "It didn't work out because I couldn't stop thinking about you. I've thought about you all the time since I saw you in the shop and now that you've told me the story, I really wish you had talked to me in school so I could have known you longer. I've never met anyone else like you, Cassie."

He saw her cheeks turn a light shade of pink, and without thinking it through, something he always had a knack for doing, he slid closer and picked up her hand in his. She looked up at him and he leaned closer. She froze, but then her eyes slid closed and she inclined her head towards his. Fred closed his eyes as well and their lips were inches apart when there was a popping sound from outside. Cassie ran to the window and gasped.

"What is it?" Fred asked, irritated at whoever had interrupted.

"It's Josh!" she squeaked. "He's home early!"

"What?" Fred nearly yelled.

"Shh, please," Cassie begged, almost in hysterics. She ran towards him and pushed him towards the stairs. "Go hide. You have to hide. Upstairs, hide under my bed or something. Second door on the left."

"Why don't I just Apparate away?"

"He'll hear you! He's almost at the door! Plus, there's one more thing I have to tell you."

"What is it? Tell me now." Fred grabbed her arm.

"No, Fred, just go."

"Tell me," he demanded.

"During the battle of Hogwarts," she said, her voice quiet and still sounding panicked, "when the wall broke your leg-,"

"You know about that?" Fred asked, surprised.

"Yes," she said quickly. She opened her mouth to say more, but was cut off by the sound of the doorknob turning. "Go!" she hissed.

Fred turned and bolted up the stairs. On his way to Cassie's room, he passed by a room with the door slightly ajar. Fred peeked inside and knew that this had to be Josh's room. Curiosity got the better of him and he slowly pushed the door open. Glancing over his shoulder, he stepped inside.

The room was incredibly boring, but also incredibly messy. He would never have suspected a person like Josh to be messy. He knew he shouldn't be snooping, but he just couldn't help it. He stopped at the bookshelf first, filled with boring looking books. His next stop was the desk, covered with papers, picture frames containing pictures of Josh with friends and Josh with Cassie, but something else caught Fred's eye. It was a letter, lying on the top of the papers. It was written in Josh's writing and it looked as if he were halfway through it.

Fred picked the letter up and scanned it. It was a letter to one of Josh's friends and a sentence in the middle caught Fred's attention. _'I'm going to propose to Cassie on Friday in Hogsmeade, right in front of the castle gates.' _

Immediately, Fred tossed the letter down as if it had burned him. Josh was going to propose to Cassie! He looked around the room as if expecting to see the ring, but he didn't see anything. He had to get out of here and figure out what to do next. He had to come up with a plan to put this engagement to a stop.

Fred snuck back out of the room, and adjusted the door to the way it had been before he had gone inside. Then, he tiptoed next door to Cassie's room. He scanned it, very neat unlike Josh's, and spotted what he was looking for: her broom. He grabbed it and opened the window, crawling out onto the small ledge of roof. After sliding the window closed, he mounted the broom and flew away. He hadn't wanted to risk making any noise leaving in case Josh heard. Neither Fred nor Cassie could afford that right now. All he knew was that he needed to put a stop to that proposal.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks to all the people who reviewed/added the story to their favorites or alerts :) **


	13. Chapter 13

"_Out of the doubt that fills your mind, you finally find you and I collide." –**Collide (Howie Day)**_

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><p>"What's wrong?" George asked when Fred ran up to the shop's counter a few minutes later. He had hurried through the crowd of customers with the broom held over his head as to not hit anyone with it.<p>

Fred ran behind the counter, opened the second register and started taking customers. "He's going to propose."

"Who's proposing?" George asked.

"Josh to Cassie," Fred answered breathlessly.

"What?" George yelped.

"Yeah, on Friday," Fred sighed. "Have a nice day," he added to the customer who was happily taking her bag of newly bought products off of the counter.

"How do you know?"

"I snooped in his room and found a letter on his desk. He was writing to a friend and telling them all about it."

"Why were you in his room?" George asked.

"He came home early and Cassie told me to hide upstairs in her room, but I couldn't resist going into his. I found the letter and then left. I couldn't stay there."

"Well, did you two talk?" George asked.

Fred nodded and gave his twin all of the information Cassie had given him. When he finished, he glanced over to see George staring at him, frozen. A customer was waving her hand in front of his face and raising her eyebrows.

"Customers, George," Fred laughed.

"I don't believe it," George said, continuing to ignore the customer.

"I'll take you over here," Fred said to the now angry woman. She made a huffing noise in George's direction and moved to Fred's register.

"I don't believe it," George said again. "You almost kissed her. She likes you. She's liked you before."

"Mhm," Fred said, unable to contain his smile.

"So what are you going to do next?" George asked.

"I'm going to put a stop to that proposal," Fred answered.

"That's what I was hoping you'd say." George clapped Fred on the back.

"Yeah, I just need to figure out how."

"Just wing it," George advised. "It is what we Weasley twins do best. That and pranks."

"Very true, Georgie," Fred said, smiling widely at the next customer approaching the register. Soon, he was going to make Cassie his.

* * *

><p>Cassie collapsed onto her bed that night. She felt exhausted. Thankfully, Josh hadn't suspected anything out of the ordinary. He said that he had just been able to leave work early, but Cassie had a suspicion that he had come home to check on her. It was as if she were a five year old. Honestly, she was a grown woman. She was old enough to know what she wanted and if she was being honest with herself, she didn't want Josh and had never wanted him. Not truly, at least. She wanted Fred and possibly always had.<p>

On a Fred related note, he hadn't been upstairs when she had come to check. He hadn't been anywhere; he had left. She wondered why. She worried that she had somehow scared him away, or maybe Josh had. Who was she kidding? She knew Fred wasn't afraid of Josh, but maybe she was.

She thought back to what she had said to Fred a long time ago in Flourish and Blott's. She had told him that there had been Ravenclaws that possessed traits of other houses like bravery or loyalty. Why couldn't she be one of those people and be brave now? Why couldn't she just face Josh and end things? She did deserve to be happy after all.

Making up her mind, Cassie got to her feet and went down the stairs, trying to think of what exactly she was going to tell him and how she was going to do it. She should have taken more time to plan it out, but she was already walking towards the couch.

"Oh, hey, I'm glad you came down here. I was just going to come up and see you," Josh said.

"You were?" she asked.

He nodded. "I wanted to know what you were doing on Friday night."

"Er, nothing, why?" Cassie raised her eyebrows.

"I wanted to take you out to Hogsmeade for dinner."

Cassie was filled with mixed emotions, shock and suspicion being two of them. Josh was asking her on a serious date, but was he only doing it to make sure she didn't go off with Fred or to prevent her developing feelings for him? It was certainly too late for that.

"Okay," she said slowly.

"You can look more excited," he said, patting her knee and laughing.

"Okay," she said with a smile this time, but it was forced. She stood up and headed for the stairs, mentally kicking herself. Why had she agreed to the date and chickened out of breaking up with him? She was not a brave Ravenclaw, apparently, and certainly not a Gryffindor.

"Oh, and Cass?" Josh called from the couch.

"Yeah," she turned around and faced him.

"Check in your closet when you go upstairs."

"Why?" she asked curiously.

"Just look. After all, you have to figure out what to wear on Friday." He gave her a smile and turned back to his work.

Cassie paused for a second before going back to her room and opening the closet door. She let out a gasp as she saw the beautiful black dress hanging right in the front. It was knee length and shiny. There were even matching shoes on the floor just inside the closet.

She reached out to touch the fabric, running her hand along it before she let out a groan and collapsed into her desk chair, burying her face in her hands. Why was Josh doing this? He had never put this much effort into a date before. She shouldn't even have had to question him, but here she was. She knew he loved her, but did he really love her all that much? And did she really love him? The only answer she was slightly sure of was the answer to the second question. She also knew she was digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole and she wasn't sure how to get out of it.

Early Friday evening, Cassie stood in front of her bedroom mirror in her new dress and shoes, admiring how she looked. Both the dress and shoes fit her perfectly and she was satisfied with her appearance. She wondered if Josh would be as well.

"Cass, are you ready?" Josh called impatiently up the stairs.

"Yeah," she called back, grabbing one of her bags, a fancy black one and heading for the stairs.

"You look nice," Josh said before giving her a quick kiss.

"Thanks," she said quietly, half wishing he would have used a different adjective, but maybe she was asking for too much.

Josh picked up her hand and they Apparated to Hogsmeade. He held her hand all the way to the restaurant, where they actually had a very nice dinner. She found herself having fun and remembering the old Josh. The Josh with her tonight was definitely the old Josh.

After dinner, they walked down the street, holding hands and laughing. Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the Hogwarts gates. She wrapped her fingers around two of the bars and looked up at the castle, its many windows lit up against the dark sky.

"Do you ever miss it?" she asked.

"No," Josh said. "Not especially."

"I do," she said. "I liked it there."

"The only good thing that came out of going to Hogwarts was meeting you," Josh said, taking her hands, prying them off the bars, and turning her to face him. "You've been the highlight of my life and the best thing that's ever happened to me. I love you and I brought you here to ask you a very important question." He dropped her hands, and reached into his pocket.

Cassie froze. "Josh…?" she squeaked.

He dropped to one knee and held out the small box he had pulled out of his pocket. As he opened it to reveal a shiny ring, he asked, "Will you marry me?"

Cassie didn't answer right away. She couldn't. She was literally speechless. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open. _This is it,_ she thought. She had the choice to say yes or no. The only thing stopping her from saying no was how furious Josh would be if she uttered that two-lettered word.

She took a deep breath and that was when she saw it. A shiny object, but it wasn't the ring being held in front of her. It was another shiny object, lying on the ground by Josh's knee and painted half blue.

"Cassie?" Josh asked as she bent down and picked up the Sickle that she herself had turned blue a little over a year ago. She knew what she had to do. Turning back to Josh with a racing heart, she looked him in the eye and said one word.

"No."

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><p><strong>AN: The ending of this chapter personally makes me very excited, even though I wrote it. Hopefully everyone else likes it too! And Fred's still going to show up in the next chapter to put his two cents in, but you'll just have to be patient for that :)**

**Don't forget to review!**


	14. Chapter 14

"_Just so you know, this feeling's taking control of me and I can't help it. I won't sit around; I can't let him win now." **–Just So You Know (Jesse McCartney)**_

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><p>Fred's feet pounded on the cobblestone street of Hogsmeade as he ran towards Hogwarts. He only hoped he wasn't too late to put an end to what was happening at the end of the road. He skidded to a stop when he heard a raised voice just around the corner.<p>

"What did you say?"

"I said no," said another familiar voice. Fred skidded to a halt, peeked through the branches of a tree, and saw Josh and Cassie standing in front of the Hogwarts gates. Josh looked like he had been slapped and Cassie looked amused, scared and defiant all at once. As for Fred, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. She had said no; he didn't need to stop anything. Cassie was finally getting rid of Josh.

"You can't say no to me," Josh said angrily.

"Well, I believe I can and just did," Cassie shrugged.

Josh roughly grabbed her arm and she let out a small scream. "You still like him, don't you? You've probably been cheating on me. Well, have you?"

"No," she protested. Fred watched as she tried to pry off Josh's arms. He was already aching to go put a stop to it, but he was half daring Josh to get even angrier so Fred would have even more of a reason to hex this guy's head off.

"You disgust me," Josh said, his voice almost a whisper, but loud enough for it to carry to where Fred was standing. Josh flung Cassie to the ground and stood over her as if he were about to aim a kick at her side.

That did it for Fred. "I don't think you want to do that," he said threateningly, pulling out his wand and stepping out from behind the tree.

"You," Josh said, turning to face Fred and pulling out his own wand.

"Me," Fred said calmly.

"Fred?" Cassie asked, blinking.

"You stole my girlfriend," Josh growled.

"I didn't steal anything," Fred answered. "She made her own decision completely by herself. I can't control what she decides."

"Both of you are pathetic, horrible people," Josh said, pointing his wand in Fred's face.

"Look who's talking," Fred hissed back, raising his own wand higher.

"Impedimenta!" Josh said. Before Fred could react, the spell hit him and flung him backwards. He heard Cassie's yelp and his head whacked against the cobblestones. He managed to roll over and avoid a Stunner from Josh.

"Levicorpus!" Fred yelled, sending a well aimed spell Josh's way. In the next second, Josh was hanging in mid air by his ankles.

Cassie let out a small laugh and Fred smiled from his spot on the ground. He was so grateful Harry had taught him this spell after he had found it during his sixth year. It was incredibly handy.

"Let me down!" Josh roared.

"Okay," Fred shrugged. He lifted the spell and Josh crumpled in a heap onto the cobblestones. "Ouch," Fred said calmly and unsympathetically.

Josh stood up and immediately fired another Sunning spell at Fred, who shot another spell at Josh. "Best you can do?" he teased.

Josh let out a growl and sent multiple spells in quick succession at Fred, who dodged them expertly, laughing the whole time.

Eventually, Josh gave up on using his wand and decided to result to physical fighting. He charged at Fred, who ducked out of the way. Josh ran a little ways past him because of his built up momentum before spinning around and heading back for Fred, who tried to run, but somehow Josh caught up to him and tackled him to the ground.

It was a little despicable that they had resorted to this, but Fred felt that Josh deserved to be beaten up for all the times he had hurt Cassie. You get what you give, Mrs. Weasley had always said.

"Alright, enough!" Cassie shouted finally. Fred was trapped under Josh's knees and when Josh paused at Cassie's words, Fred flipped him over and pinned Josh under his knee instead.

"Cassie," Fred said, "he deserves this."

"Maybe, but you've already fought enough."

Fred looked down at Josh and took in his bloody nose and his swollen eye that was turning black and blue. "No, I don't think so," he argued.

"Well I do," Cassie said firmly. She took out her own wand and pointed it at Josh. "Petrificus Totalus."

Fred felt Josh's limbs snap together, completely frozen. Knowing that Josh couldn't go anywhere, Fred stood up next to Cassie, glancing at her as she continued to look down at the complete idiot of a boy in front of them.

"I'm not going to marry you," she said, her wand still pointed at Josh. He looked up at her with narrowed eyes. "You rarely take me on dates, tonight was the first time in about a year, and before the date we had a year ago, we hadn't gone out in a long time. You never come home when you say you will, and you're always working. You sometimes say things that are hurtful and you have a knack for putting me down. Besides that, you've been taking out your anger on me a little too often. You _have_ always had a terrible temper, but I didn't think you'd be the kind to hit other people. That being said, I want you to move out of my house. Tonight," she added forcefully. "You will return the spare key I gave you and be gone by tomorrow morning."

"If you don't comply with those orders," Fred said, crouching down next to Josh, "or if you give her any trouble, you'll have me to answer to and I'm sure my five brothers, my sister, plus my friend Harry will back me up. I'm sure you remember him. He defeated Voldemort. Dealing with you will be easy. As for my sister, well she looks small but trust me when I say that you don't want to mess with her."

Josh continued to glare and Cassie lifted the Body Bind Curse from him. "Is that clear?" she asked.

Josh stood up and looked between her and Fred. "After everything I did for you tonight," he whispered to Cassie.

She shook her head. "It doesn't make up for all the other mistakes you made."

"You don't know what you're missing," he continued. "Why would you want to be with him over me? _I'm_ not a school drop out." He looked at Fred and smirked as if he knew exactly how much his words stung.

"Maybe not, but you're mean and a jerk and I'm only sorry I didn't get the courage to do this sooner."

"I put this whole night together. I bought you the dress and the shoes and this ring."

Cassie just shook her head. "No, Josh. I'm not going to stay with you."

Josh looked back at Fred. "You can have her. You both deserve each other," he said angrily before kicking a cloud of dirt at Fred and stomping away.

Fred watched him go with a satisfied expression. Next to him, Cassie took a deep breath and exhaled, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked, turning to her. "Did he hurt you?"

"No," she answered in a whisper. "How did you know to come here?"

"I, uh, snooped in Josh's room the other day and found a letter saying he was going to propose here tonight. I wanted to put a stop to it, but you seemed to be handling that just fine." Fred rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Cassie with a small smile.

Cassie's mouth twitched into a half smile and she finally turned to look at him. "I found this." She held out her hand and uncurled her fist. Fred looked down and his eyes widened. It was the Sickle, half covered in blue.

"Where? When?" he asked incredulously.

"On the ground right after Josh asked me to marry him."

Fred let out a whistle. "I don't even know what to say," he whispered, "except for this is scary."

"I know," Cassie whispered back. There was a pause. "Your lip is bleeding," she said quietly, reaching up and gently holding his chin, turning his face back and forth so she could examine the damage. "And above your eye too."

"It's not a big deal," Fred said nonchalantly. "It doesn't hurt."

"Mhm," Cassie answered as if she didn't believe him. She reached into her bag and pulled out a tissue. She smirked at him and placed the tissue on his lip.

"Ow," Fred said, realizing that his lip did in fact hurt.

"That's what I thought," Cassie said, using the tissue to wipe the area above his eye before tossing it into a nearby trash can. She used her wand to heal the cuts before taking another breath and looking up at him. "So…" she began as if unsure of what to say exactly.

"Come on," Fred said, taking her hand. He led her to the Three Broomsticks and got them a table. "Wait here. Promise you won't go anywhere."

Cassie gave a small laugh. "As if I would."

Fred got them both drinks and a slice of apple pie to share. "I hope you like apple pie."

"Luckily it's my favorite," she said. "What would you have done if I didn't like it?"

"Well, it's my favorite too so I would have been thrilled to eat this all by myself."

"I'm sorry I'm preventing you from doing that, then," Cassie smirked, reaching over with her fork to take a bite.

Fred smiled and slid the plate so it was in the middle of the table before taking a bite for himself. "What were you going to tell me the other day before Josh came home and interrupted?"

"Oh, that," Cassie said seriously. She turned her fork in her hands.

"You can tell me," Fred said, reaching over and placing a hand over hers. "It has to do with the battle and the wall falling?"

Cassie nodded. "Yes, what do you remember about that?"

"I remember moving out of the way right in time, but a part of the wall still fell on my leg and broke it. There was a lot of dust and I couldn't really concentrate on much because of the pain in my leg. I knew I needed to somehow get out of there, but my wand had rolled a few feet away and I couldn't move. Then, I remember someone came and healed my leg right then and there, but I couldn't see who it was."

Cassie looked up at him. She was biting her lip. "It was me."

"What?" Fred gaped at her.

"I healed your leg." Cassie continued to talk faster and faster as she told him the story. "I told you I had liked you for a while. I liked you for two years from when I was thirteen until I was fifteen, but even though I was dating Josh at the time of the battle, I had to save you. I couldn't let you just lie there, unable to move. I couldn't let you get hit by a curse or be in danger and possibly die." She whispered the last word and looked down at the table.

"Oh, Cassie," Fred whispered, squeezing her hand tightly. He scooted his chair so that he was next to her, never releasing her hand. "That was—I—I really don't know what to say except thank you. I always wondered who had helped me. George always wondered as well. In fact, I believe he promised to give whoever it was a joke shop gift basket and a hug."

Cassie let out a giggle and looked over at Fred. "Well, now you know it was me and I know how George would repay me, but what about you?"

"What do you mean?" Fred raised his eyebrows.

"How are you going to repay me?" she clarified. "I mean, it was _you _that I helped after all. I deserve some kind of thank you, don't you think?"

Fred smiled. "I think I know just the thing."

Continuing to hold her hand with one of his, he used his free hand to push a strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned in closer and finally got to do what he had wanted to do for a long time. He gently pressed his lips to Cassie's and she kissed him back, a little shyly at first, but her hesitation lessoned after a bit.

"I've always wanted to know what it would be like to kiss you," she murmured against his lips as they broke apart.

"And how was it?" Fred asked.

"Perfect," she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder and snuggling up to him.

Fred smiled and glanced down at her. "You look fantastic, you know."

"That's the adjective I was looking for," she said quietly.

"Hm?" Fred asked, confused.

"Josh told me I looked nice, which is, well, nice, but I was hoping for a better adjective to be honest."

"Glad I could help, then," Fred laughed.

"Me too," she said.

They left the Three Broomsticks hand in hand and Fred was filled with the happy joy of finally getting what he had wanted. He decided then and there that he rather liked the idea of fate.

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><p><strong>AN: I know...they _finally_ got together and I hope it lives up to everyones expectations. The story actually isn't over just yet and I can say that karma's going to come back and hit Josh in the face. **


	15. Chapter 15

"_If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?" –**Snow Patrol (Chasing Cars)**_

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><p>"George?" Fred called as he opened the door to the flat later that night. He turned to Cassie and added, "He should be around here somewhere." He pulled Cassie by the hand through the flat and gave her a quick tour. "Here's the kitchen, the living room is in here, and then the bathroom, my room and George's room are down the hallway."<p>

Fred stepped forward opened the door to the living room. He laughed when he saw George asleep on the couch, snoring softly.

"I should go. We don't want to wake him up," Cassie whispered, tugging on Fred's hand.

"No, you just got here and of course we want to wake him up. It's only ten. He's just tired because we were up late last night trying to work on a new product."

"What is it?" Cassie asked. "Am I allowed to know what it is?"

"Ah, sadly, no," Fred said with a grin. "It's a secret until it's ready to hit the shelves. Even for you." He tapped Cassie's nose before turning to the sleeping George and tapping his chin in thought. Finally, he smiled, dropped Cassie's hand, and turned so that he was leaning backwards against the back of the couch.

"What are you doing?" Cassie hissed.

"Waking George up," Fred said, grinning. With that, he hopped up on the back of the couch and dropped himself onto George's lap before doing an odd sort of half somersault onto the floor. He heard George's yelp and Cassie's laughter, which made him smile.

"What was that for?" George asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking slightly irritated.

"It's rude to sleep when we have guests. You know that, don't you?" Fred asked, sitting up and smiling.

"What are you talking about?" George asked. Fred smiled, trying to stifle his laughter. He wanted to see George's reaction when he finally noticed Cassie.

Cassie softly cleared her throat from her spot behind the couch. She had a small smile on her face and her hands clasped behind her back.

George's head snapped around and he gave another yelp when he saw her. This time, he even fell off the couch, his feet nearly kicking Fred in the face.

"Watch it!" Fred laughed, swatting George's feet out of the way. "Your feet stink."

"What is she doing here?" George asked, scrambling to all fours and crawling to sit next to Fred. They both looked up at Cassie, who gave them an amused look.

"There's only one reason why she would be here," Fred answered.

"You mean…?"

"Yeah," Fred nodded, grinning like an idiot. He was still ecstatic about how the whole night had turned out.

George let out a whoop and grabbed Fred in a headlock, ruffling his hair. "I knew you could do it!"

"Get off," Fred said, his voice muffled. He laughed and shoved George off of him. "Tell him what happened, Cassie."

"Wait," George said, holding up his hand. "First, Cassie, I have to apologize to you."

"For what?" she looked confused.

"For yelling at you that day in Flourish and Blott's. The day I asked you to go on a date with Fred. I was only trying to help him and protect him."

"I know," Cassie answered quietly, "and it's okay. I think I can forgive you." A smirk spread over her face.

"Good," George answered. "Now you can tell the story."

Cassie rested her hands on the back of the couch. "Well," she began.

"Take a seat," George said, still grinning as he gestured to the couch.

Fred leaned back against the coffee table and George did the same as Cassie sat on the couch. "You have to help tell the story, Fred. I can't tell it all by myself."

"Yes, you can. I want to hear you tell it," Fred said, shaking his head.

"Fine." Cassie told George the entire story of the night's events, from Josh's proposal to Fred taking her to the Three Broomsticks."

"You found the Sickle? While Josh was proposing to you?" George asked.

"Mhm," Cassie nodded.

George shook his head as if he were trying to clear his ears of water. "I don't believe it. I used to think all this fate stuff was mental, but after tonight…"

"Guess what else?" Fred asked, glancing at Cassie and smiling.

"There's more?" George asked. "Don't tell me the stars all of a sudden spelled out your names with a heart around them."

"No," Fred answered shaking his head. "I found out who healed my leg in the battle."

George's face became serious and he stared at Fred. "You did?" he asked quietly. "Who?"

"Me," Cassie said, as if she had been bursting to tell George all night just to see his reaction. Truthfully, Fred had been just as excited about telling his twin the news.

George's head snapped around to look at Cassie. "What did you say?"

"I healed his leg," she repeated. She looked at Fred, a caring expression on her face. "I couldn't let him just lie there. I was afraid that since he couldn't move or reach his wand that something else would end up killing him."

Fred turned his gaze from Cassie to George, a proud and excited smile on his face, but he was shocked to see George's eyes filling with tears. "George?" he asked, growing slightly alarmed. "What is it?"

Instead of answering, George scrambled up from the floor and moved to the couch, throwing his arms around Cassie.

"George," she said, half laughing as she returned the hug.

"Thank you," he whispered, "for saving him."

Cassie hugged George a little tighter. "Anytime," she whispered back.

"Now I really feel like a jerk for yelling at you and thinking you'd ever hurt him."

"You didn't know," she said. "No one knew."

As George nodded his head, Fred moved to Cassie's other side on the couch and leaned against her. She removed one arm from George and put it around Fred's shoulders.

"I'll get you your gift basket tomorrow," George said, sitting up and smiling at her.

"What?" Cassie looked at him.

"I told Fred I'd give whoever healed him a hug and a gift basket. I've already given you the hug, so I owe you the-,"

"He told me about that, but you don't owe me anything," Cassie said, shaking her head.

"I want to give it to you. A huge basket filled with all of our best prank products. I insist you take it, actually."

"I can't do that, George," she said gently.

"Yes you can," he answered.

Cassie smiled. "That does sound cool, actually."

"Of course it does," Fred said.

"I never got to buy many prank products when I was with Josh," Cassie said quietly, tracing circles on her leg with her finger.

"Well now you can have as many as you want," Fred answered.

"Does anyone want a snack or a drink?" George asked, getting up and heading to the kitchen.

"I thought you were tired," Fred laughed.

"Not after all the excitement," George said, shaking his head.

"I think you should go to bed anyway," Fred answered, giving his twin a look.

"That hurts," George gasped, putting a hand to his heart. "It really hurts, Fred. I'm being kicked out of my own living room by my own brother." He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, but backed into his bedroom all the same. He closed the door until just his head was showing. "Goodnight, you two." He winked and shut the door all the way.

"You can stay here tonight," Fred told Cassie, taking her hands. "That way you don't have to be there when Josh is getting his stuff out of your house."

"Okay," Cassie nodded.

"That was easy," Fred blinked. "I thought it might take some convincing."

"Why? I don't want to risk seeing him again," Cassie shrugged. "Am I being too dramatic? I don't want it to seem like all I cared about was that he didn't take me out anywhere. It was just an accumulation of things."

"You aren't being dramatic. All of that stuff would take a toll on anyone's nerve. Besides that, he was hurting you. Nobody should be expected to stay with anyone who's like that."

Cassie nodded and swung her legs over Fred's lap, resting her head on his chest. He was wearing his shirt from the Quidditch World Cup, the one with the small hole in the collar, and she stuck her finger through the hole and twirled the fabric around.

"George didn't want me to wear this shirt around you," Fred whispered into her hair.

"Why?" she asked.

"He said you wouldn't want to see me in such an old and ragged shirt."

"I like this shirt. It's very…you. It smells like you and it's obviously been worn a lot. Plus, I actually like the hole."

"Ha!" Fred said triumphantly. "I win. George obviously doesn't know what he's talking about."

"I don't speak for girls in general, though," Cassie added. "Other girls might not like the hole at all."

"You're all that matters, though," Fred shrugged, readjusting his arms around her.

Cassie smiled and snuggled closer to him. "Oh, before I forget, I think you have something of mine."

"I do?" Fred asked, confused.

"My broomstick," she said, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, I have it. I'll give it to you tomorrow."

"You know I should report you for stealing," she teased.

"I needed to make a quick getaway," Fred shrugged, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"From me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Fred answered at once. "It was right after I found—," he stopped when she quietly shushed him.

"You don't have to explain. I know why you left now."

"Now?" Fred asked.

"At first I didn't know why you had left. I thought I had scared you away or something. Obviously once Josh proposed, I understood."

"If I hadn't been scared away up until then, did you really think I would ever get scared off?" Fred laughed.

"Good point," she whispered, still playing with the fabric of his shirt. "You know, if I only knew years ago that you would like me, I would have talked to you a lot sooner."

"You should have," Fred said. "Why wouldn't I have liked you? You're smart, pretty, mysterious and fun to be with on the short random occasions that I get to see you."

Cassie laughed. "Well, those occasions are going to get longer and more frequent now, I can assure you." She tilted her head up and rested it on his shoulder instead of his chest.

"Good," Fred said, leaning down to kiss her. He held her closer and he felt her hand on the side of his face, sliding up and around through the hair on the back of his head.

When they broke apart, Cassie gave a contented little sigh and relaxed into him again, her hand sliding down his shoulder and across his chest until it came to a stop resting across her own stomach.

"Sleep," Fred told her. "I can tell you're tired."

"You should go to bed too. You don't have to stay here with me."

"Are you kidding? I'm not leaving, and you don't even have to sleep on the couch. I'll sleep on the couch if you want. Or we can even-,"

"Mm," she interrupted sleepily and Fred could tell she wasn't listening. He let out a chuckle as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. When he was positive that she was fast asleep, he stood up and carried her into his room. He shifted her in his arms and gently put her under the covers, adjusting them around her.

After he had changed into his pajamas, he slid into the bed next to her, making sure they both had enough space. He propped himself up sideways on his elbow and rested his head against his hand. With his other hand, he traced the side of Cassie's face from her temple to her chin before letting out a sigh, rolling over, turning off the light and drifting into sleep himself.

The next morning, Cassie woke up slowly. She blinked her eyes open and it took her a second to fully wake up and realize she didn't know where she was. She looked around and noticed she was in a bedroom. The last thing she remembered was being in the living room. She figured Fred had brought her in here after she had fallen asleep.

She rolled over onto her side and saw a note lying on the pillow next to her. _Dear Cassie, _it said, _I unfortunately had to go to work today. I'd much rather be sitting in the place of this note right now. The good news is that I don't work too far away, so come down to the shop whenever you're ready. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, but I'll warn you, there's not much. Sorry about that. I'll see you soon. Love, Fred. P.S. I hope you like the gift basket._

Cassie lifted her gaze and smiled when she saw the huge gift basket sitting on the night stand. She sat up and slid over so that she could reach it. When she had pulled the overflowing basket onto her lap, she quickly looked through it to see what was inside. There were trick wands, trick quills, Skiving Snackboxes, Headless Hats, Decoy Detonators, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and a lot of other popular joke products. There was also a note attached. _Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I'm sorry once again. –George._

Smiling, she set the basket down again and got out of bed, excited to get to see the shop in action. The first and only time she had come in was when Fred had first talked to her and she had been in a rush that day. Now she had the opportunity to stay as long as she liked and she was going to take it.


	16. Chapter 16

"_I won't be afraid, just as long as you stand, stand by me." –**Stand By Me (Ben E. King)**_

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><p>Once she had fixed herself up in the bathroom as best as she could, Cassie noticed she was still wearing her dress from the night before. She should have asked Fred for something to change into, but she had fallen asleep last night, he had been gone this morning, and she certainly wasn't about to rummage through his things. The dress would just have to do for now.<p>

She took the stairs that led to the main part of the shop. Apparently, there was another set of stairs that led to the back room, but she wasn't sure where those were. When she reached the shop, she leaned against the wall and smiled. It wasn't even noon yet and the shop was already crammed with people. There was hardly any room to walk. Noticing George restocking shelves, Cassie made her way over to him. When she got closer, she noticed he was talking to a girl.

"Morning," she said, almost shyly.

"Cassie!" George said, turning to her with a smile. He held the now empty box against his hip with one hand and threw his free arm around the shoulders of the girl next to him. "This is Katie, my girlfriend."

"Oh, yeah, Katie Bell, right? You were a year behind us in school. Played on the Quidditch team?"

"Yeah," Katie said with a smile.

"This is Cassie," George told Katie. "She's dating Fred now."

Katie looked surprised. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It only happened last night," George shrugged.

"Where is Fred, by the way?" Cassie asked.

"In the back," George said. "We got a new shipment of supplies in today and he's organizing them in the back room. I'll warn you now, though, it's probably a mess in there. Messier than usual, anyway. It always is when we get new shipments in."

"I can handle it. I'm sure it's nothing compared to Josh's messes." She rolled her eyes and turned away. "Oh, and thanks for the gift basket," she called over her shoulder.

"Don't mention it," he called back.

Cassie smiled as she maneuvered through the crowds to the back room, blocked off from the rest of the store by just a bright orange curtain. She slowly pushed it aside and her smile widened as she saw Fred standing in the middle of the room, one hand tangled in his hair and looking around perplexedly at the many boxes surrounding him.

"Need some help?" she asked.

Fred jumped and spun around. "Hey," he said once he saw it was her. "You're awake."

"Yeah," she said, "I'm awake."

Stepping over box after box, Fred made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her. When he noticed she was still wearing her dress from the day before, he let out a guilty groan. "I'm sorry; I should have given you something to wear."

"It's fine. Last night was so crazy that getting changed was actually the last thing on my mind."

"I can give you something now." Fred took a few steps towards the stairs.

"No, don't worry about it," she said, shaking her head. "I'll go home later and get something. Right now, I think you should start opening these boxes and putting things away."

"I guess you're right," Fred sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

"Let's start with this one," Cassie said, pointing to the first box she saw.

With Cassie's help, the boxes were unpacked in record time and the back room looked more neat and organized than Fred had ever seen it.

"You're good at this organization thing," he said as they carried the empty boxes out to the back.

"Yeah, well, I've always been that way so I've had years of practice I guess," she answered with a shrug.

"After we close, I'll go with you back to your house and make sure everything's alright," Fred said.

"You don't have to," she said, shaking her head.

"No, I want to. I want to make sure Josh listened and he's out of there and left the key so he can't get back in."

"He'll be gone," she said. "I hope."

"Yeah, he better be," Fred muttered.

"I don't know what's going to happen if he's not or if he doesn't leave."

"I'll deal with that," Fred answered at once. "I meant what I said last night. George will back me up and so will my brothers and Ginny. Have I told you she can do an incredible Bat Bogey Hex? Josh does _not_ want to be at the receiving end of one of those."

"But maybe _I _want him to be," Cassie said with a small smile.

Fred looked at her and let out a small laugh. "So, are you still writing that book or have you finished?"

"You remembered," Cassie said, stopping in her tracks. "You remembered I was writing."

"Of course I remembered. Why wouldn't I?" Fred gave her a quizzical look. How could she possibly believe every detail about her wasn't worth remembering?

Cassie just shook her head. "I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to people—boyfriends, really—remembering things I tell them."

"Well that's going to change," Fred said, taking her hand and leading her forward again to the place where they could dump the boxes.

"Fate," Cassie said.

"What?" Fred asked, turning to face her. "We're already together, Cass. I don't think we need to worry about that anymore."

"No, that's what my book is about," she answered. "When I first started, it was about something completely different, but it was so difficult to write. Then, I changed my mind and decided to write about fate and ever since then, writing's been pretty much a breeze. I'm still not done, but I'm so close."

"What caused the change in topic?" Fred asked, tilting his head. He thought he had a pretty good idea, but he just wanted to hear her say it.

"You did, silly," Cassie laughed, playfully shoving his shoulder.

He laughed along and caught her hand, pulling her closer. "I was hoping that's what you would say. Will you dedicate the book to me?"

Cassie sighed. "If you wish." A playful smile formed over her face and she slid her free hand up his chest and around the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I do," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her lips. She returned it and Fred wrapped both of his arms around her waist and pulled her closer while Cassie wound both of her arms around his neck.

"We should get back," Fred said finally with a small groan of disappointment.

Cassie dropped her arms from around his neck and Fred wished she hadn't. Her arms seemed made to stay exactly where they had been.

"I guess we should," Cassie answered with a sigh.

"As much as I'd love to stay out here all day, I have a job to do." Fred gave her a small smile and tilted his head towards the shop.

"I know, and you should get back to it. You can't be spending your time out here with me."

"I can-," Fred began.

"—do whatever you want, yes, I know, you run your own business," Cassie laughed, "but you were right when you said you need to get back to work. Your customers aren't forking over their money to a man who spends his time kissing his girlfriend rather than working."

"When you put it that way it sounds terrible," Fred complained.

"Back inside," Cassie demanded, pushing on his back. Fred pouted but followed her orders nonetheless.

* * *

><p>"Everything looks normal," Fred said. They were standing outside her house. The sun was just going down, casting long shadows across the ground.<p>

"From the outside," Cassie said with a sigh and a half smile. She used the hand that wasn't holding loosely onto Fred's to shield her eyes against the sun.

"Do you really think something could be wrong?" Fred asked.

"Not wrong," Cassie shrugged. "I'm just worried that he didn't listen to me and he's going to be sitting on the couch like always."

"If he is," Fred said quietly, his mouth near her ear, "I'll take care of him. I told you that."

The defensive tone in his voice sent shivers down Cassie's spine. She nodded and dropped his hand, before walking up to the door and opening it. The second she pushed it open, she knew for sure something wasn't right. She pushed the door the rest of the way open and gasped.

With all the strength she had, she managed to take a step inside the room. It was completely trashed. The coffee table was on its side as well as a chair. A broken lamp lay on the floor and the couch cushions were lying half off the couch.

Leaning forward and dropping her bag on the bottom step, while never taking her eyes off the destroyed room, Cassie took out her wand and stepped forward again.

"Cassie, is everything-?" Fred began, coming up behind her. He stopped speaking and walking abruptly and Cassie knew that he had seen the mess.

"At least he's gone," Cassie sighed, surveying the room and noticing the absence of anything belonging to Josh.

"I was looking forward to punching him again, though," Fred said.

"Fred," Cassie warned. She took a breath. "I'm going to go check upstairs."

"Okay, I'll get started cleaning up down here," Fred answered. He leaned Cassie's broomstick that he had borrowed, well, taken, against the wall.

Cassie nodded in agreement and headed up the stairs. Fred watched her go and when he couldn't see her anymore, he moved around the room, waving his wand and putting things back in place. Not even a moment later, he heard a small yelping sound.

"Cassie?" he yelled, freezing on the spot so he could listen better. There was no sound. "Cassie!" he yelled, louder this time. He stepped onto the couch and flung himself over the back, messing up the cushions he had just fixed. He didn't care in the least, though, as he ran up the stairs. He yelled Cassie's name as he flung open the door to Josh's room. It was empty. Trashed, but empty.

Suddenly, before Fred could move on down the hallway, Cassie flew out of her room and into Fred's arms. "It's gone," she whispered.

"What's gone?" Fred asked, his voice panicked as he held her away from him and quickly scanned for any injuries.

"My book! Everything I've been working on. It's gone, the entire thing is gone. He took it, Fred. He took it." She looked up at Fred, her eyes wide.

Fred blinked at her for a moment. His initial reaction was that the book wasn't as important as Cassie getting hurt, but he saw her expression and remembered what she had told him. He knew that this book meant everything to her. She had worked hard on it and had been so excited to finally publish it but now it was gone.

"Well, then we'll have to just get it back," he answered simply, pulling her against him and stroking her hair. He had no idea how, but they were going to.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Josh isn't out of the picture just yet..unfortunately. **

**Don't forget to review and thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far and added the story to their alerts/favorites :)**


	17. Chapter 17

_"We're both looking for something we've been afraid to find. It's easier to be broken. It's easier to hide." **–Lifehouse (First Time)**_

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><p>An hour later, and after organizing the rest of the house, Fred was sitting in the living room, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Cassie had contacted her parents and they had rushed right over. She had just answered the door and Fred could hear their quiet voices.<p>

He was nervous. He was worried about Cassie's book and how they were going to get it back, but he was also nervous because in the middle of this, he now had to meet her parents. This wasn't how and when he had pictured meeting them and what if they hated him? Sure, Josh had been a jerk, but at least _he_ had a good job at the Ministry. _He_ wasn't a school dropout. Fred was. He was a dropout and owned a joke shop, which was beginning to sound less impressive by the minute. Fred knew Cassie didn't care, but what if her parents did? Their opinion would most likely have an effect on Cassie and it would have an effect on Fred as well. He didn't want her parents to hate him or think he was bad for their daughter.

"Fred?" He looked up at the sound of Cassie's quiet voice. A man and a woman, her parents, were standing slightly behind her, staring at him.

"Hello," he said, jumping up and walking over quickly. He approached Cassie's dad first and held out his hand. "I'm Fred, I'm-,"

He didn't get a chance to finish because Cassie's dad's face broke into a grin and grabbed his hand enthusiastically. "Cassie's new boyfriend, right?"

"Yes," Fred said slowly.

"Thank you," her father said.

"For what?" Fred asked as he was hugged by Cassie's mother. Cassie was laughing and Fred shot her a confused look. She just shook her head.

"For getting our daughter out of her previous relationship with that idiot, Josh," her father said.

"Oh, it was my pleasure," Fred said, feeling slightly more confident. He turned and winked at Cassie, who blushed. "But I think I need to be honest. I own a joke shop with my twin brother and we dropped out of school when we were seventeen. We each received only three OWLs and never even took our NEWTs. I'm not like Josh in that way, and I-,"

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, isn't it?" Cassie's dad asked.

"Yeah, you've heard of it?"

"Of course! I read about it in the Daily Prophet when it first opened and read another article on how successful it was not too long ago. I even visited last year. You've got some really incredible products, I must say."

"He was fascinated," Cassie's mother added, patting her husband's shoulder.

"Well, thank you," Fred said, grinning in surprise.

"Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?" Cassie's dad asked. "Cassie, tell your mother about what happened. Fred and I will be back in a moment."

Fred followed Cassie's dad into the kitchen and took a seat across from him at the table. "I really like your daughter."

"I can tell," Cassie's dad said, "and she really likes you. I saw it right away. Even though she's upset about her book, she seems, I don't know, _happier_ now that Josh is gone. I've been hoping they would break up for a long time."

"Why?" Fred asked.

"He's a jerk. I've always known and he's been recently proving it. It's unfortunate that I only just found out he was hurting Cassie. It's just like her to hide it from us. She wouldn't want us to get upset, but that's what parents are for. If I had known that Josh was hurting her, I would have taken care of him, no problem."

"I might have beaten you to it, sir," Fred said sheepishly.

Cassie's dad laughed loudly. "I can see that and thank you. It doesn't matter to me that you dropped out of school. I've seen your shop. It's not like after you dropped out you resorted to living on the streets, sleeping on a park bench. You did something incredible. You're intelligent, and a lot nicer than Josh. Plus, you actually know how to laugh. Josh wasn't much of a laughter person."

"I've noticed," Fred said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm glad you helped Cassie. I don't think I need to tell you this, but if you hurt her…"

"Not a chance," Fred interrupted quickly, holding up his hands. "None at all."

"Good," Cassie's dad answered, clapping Fred on the back. "Now, normally I would say she's rushing into another relationship, but she seems happy with you and usually I can spot a jerk from a mile away and you don't seem like a jerk. Don't prove me wrong."

"I won't," Fred assured him wholeheartedly. "You don't have to worry."

"Good," her father said again.

"Just so you know," Fred said as they walked back out to the living room, "this isn't the way I was picturing meeting her parents. On such short notice, I mean. I didn't get a chance to prepare myself."

Cassie's dad chuckled. "I know what you mean. This wasn't how I was planning to meet you either. But for what it's worth, you did fine without any preparations."

"Well, winging it is what Weasley twins do best so I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Fred said with a wry smile.

Cassie's dad laughed again and patted Fred's shoulder before walking away to join his wife and daughter, leaving Fred to breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

><p>After much discussion that night, Fred, Cassie and her parents came to the conclusion to report the theft to the Ministry. Fred was grateful that Hermione had successfully completed training and was now on her way to earning a top position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It was always nice to have people on your side at the Ministry.<p>

Fred didn't want to waste any time. After Cassie changed into comfortable clothes, he brought her to see Hermione right away. At first, Hermione didn't want to fill out a report seeing as she wasn't working. She wanted to wait until the next morning, but she gave in eventually and filled it out, promising to get back to them the next day with any information that they could find.

"You can stay at the flat again tonight," Fred offered as he and Cassie stepped outside again.

"I can stay at my own house," Cassie said. "Josh's key was left on the floor. He can't get in again."

"I'll stay with you, then," Fred argued. "I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'm fine, Fred," Cassie answered.

"No, I'm insisting," Fred said forcibly. "You've had a tough few days and I want to be there for you."

"Are you sure?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow's Sunday and the shop isn't open so it's not like I have to be at work early."

"Okay," Cassie said, nodding hear head after a moment's hesitation.

"Okay," Fred answered happily. He picked up Cassie's hand and Apparated them both back to her house. "Oh, I almost forgot. George and I usually go to the Burrow, the house we grew up in, for dinner with the family on Sundays. Mum likes having us all together once a week. I'd love it if you came with me."

"Oh, I couldn't," Cassie shook her head.

"Not fair, Cass," Fred said, shaking his head. "I met your parents. You have no choice but to meet mine now. The whole family will be there, like I said. I want you to meet them all. And lucky you, you'll actually have time to prepare yourself."

"Well, honestly, I didn't want you to meet my parents that way. I wanted to plan a dinner or something, so today doesn't count."

"Ah, yes it does," Fred argued. "I can only meet them once. I can't be officially introduced to them a second time. Anyway, I really don't care how I met them."

"You have a big family, don't you?" Cassie asked, looking down and fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

"Yeah," Fred answered slowly.

"What if they all hate me?" she asked in a whisper.

"None of them will hate you," Fred answered. "They've all actually heard quite a lot about you."

"They have?" Cassie looked up and a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "How may I ask, have they heard about me?"

"Well, Hermione will be there and she knows you from work," Fred started to ramble, "and you've already met George, so that leaves—,"

"I wasn't talking about Hermione or George," Cassie interrupted. "I was talking about the rest of them." She smiled wider.

"I might have told them all about you," Fred mumbled. It was his turn to look down now.

"You have?" Cassie asked. She sounded embarrassed, but pleased.

Fred nodded. "If you come to dinner tomorrow, you'll get to meet them and they'll get to meet you. Hermione and Harry will be there too. You already know Hermione and George, like I said, so that leaves Mum, Dad, Bill, his wife Fleur, Percy, Ron and Ginny. Charlie's in Romania, so he won't be there."

Cassie just stared at him for a moment more. Finally, she nodded. "Okay, I'll come, but you have to stay here tonight." She smiled up at him.

"I thought you could handle being here alone?" Fred teased.

"Oh, I can," Cassie laughed, "but I wanted to make sure _you_ have company."

"I have George," Fred teased back.

"Hmm, me or George?" Cassie smiled and held up her hands as if she were weighing the two options. "No offense, but I think I'm better company."

"Why do you think that?" Fred asked curiously.

Cassie stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. "I can actually cook edible food."

Fred let out a laugh. "That is very true, but don't let George hear you say that or else he might take back his gift basket."

"Too late," Cassie answered, tilting her head towards her house. "It's already unwrapped."

"Doesn't matter, he might just take it back anyway." Fred smiled and shook his head.

Cassie shoved him playfully. "I can also do this," she whispered, standing on her tiptoes and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.

"Hmm, yes, that does give you a one up on George," Fred said.

"I know," she smirked before turning and walking over to stand in the middle of the yard. She tilted her head up and looked at the sky.

"What are you looking at?" Fred asked, stepping up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

Cassie placed one hand over Fred's and used her other hand to point into the sky. "You can see Cassiopeia tonight."

"I know I can," Fred joked, nuzzling her neck.

"I meant the constellation, dummy," Cassie laughed using her shoulder to nudge him.

"I know," he sighed. He looked up into the sky and the two of them fell into silence.

"I have a confession," Cassie said suddenly.

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"I was always so upset that they never taught us about Cassiopeia in school," Cassie answered.

"That's hardly a confession," Fred said.

"That wasn't the confession," Cassie laughed. "The confession is _why_ I was always so upset."

"Well, why?" Fred asked.

"At first I was just genuinely upset," she said, "but then I thought that you would notice me if you learned that I was named after a constellation. I thought you would think it was cool, but they never taught it."

"I do think it's cool," Fred said. "It might be too late for that information to matter, but for what it's worth, I do think it's cool."

"How did you learn about it anyway? When I first told you my name, you knew it was a constellation."

"I'm familiar with lots of constellations," Fred said, "but I don't know them all, and when you told me your name, I didn't know anything about the Cassiopeia constellation besides the name."

"You _didn't_?" Cassie asked.

"Ah, you picked up on the past tense," Fred laughed.

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Well I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I have a confession as well," Fred whispered.

"What is it?"

"After you told me your name, I went back and found my old Astronomy book. I looked through and researched everything I could about Cassiopeia. I decided it's my second favorite constellation."

"Why second and what's your first?" Cassie asked, turning her head to look back at Fred.

Fred dropped his arms and sat on the ground. Cassie sat next to him and pulled her knees up to her chest. When Fred looked over, she was staring at him intently.

"My first favorite is Gemini," he said finally, "for obvious reasons. When Bill went off to school, George and I were only four so we wouldn't have understood much, but when Charlie went we were six and when he came home for Christmas, he couldn't wait to show me and George the picture of Gemini in his Astronomy book. We thought it was great that there was a twin constellation and it's been our favorite ever since."

"That's so sweet," Cassie sighed, "but why is Cassiopeia your second favorite? I mean, why not fifth, or last?"

"It could never be last," Fred whispered, looking at Cassie, who looked back at him with a small smile. "Isn't it obvious why it's my second favorite?" he continued.

"Just because of me?" she asked.

"That, and because," Fred looked back up at the constellation in the sky, "it's in the shape of -,"

"The letter 'W'," Cassie finished, nodding, "for Weasley."

"Exactly," Fred said. "I don't know, it just seems like looking up and seeing Gemini means George and I will be together forever and then seeing Cassiopeia, which reminds me of you and is in the shape of a W, makes me think that you and I will be together forever. Was that really corny?"

Cassie was silent for a moment and Fred looked down at her in alarm. Did she think he was an idiot?

"It must be a sign. Maybe we are meant to be after all," she finally said, nudging him and smiling.

Fred broke into a grin and relaxed as he realized she didn't think he was crazy. She clearly thought quite the opposite as she leaned up and kissed him gently, bringing her hand to his cheek.

"We're going to get your book back," Fred whispered against her cheek when they broke apart.

"If Josh hasn't tried to publish it yet," Cassie half laughed.

"He wouldn't do that." Fred's shock and anger showed in his voice. "It's not even done yet."

"It was for the most part. It just needed a few changes here and there which he can do. Plus why else would he just take it?"

"To spite you," Fred answered. "It means a lot to you."

"Like you said, we'll get it back," Cassie said in a tone that clearly said she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Fred?"

"Hm?" he asked, pulling her so that she was sitting against him. He rested his cheek against the side of her head and wrapped his arms around her.

"Remember in Flourish and Blott's that day when you said that you had times when you weren't so courageous?"

"Yeah," Fred answered after a moment.

"You said you'd tell me about it one day. Can you tell me now?"

Fred didn't answer right away. Instead, he drew patterns along the thigh of Cassie's jeans with his finger. "For one, I was being a coward when I walked out of the bookshop that day. I was afraid of getting hurt. I was afraid of _you_ getting hurt, but I think my leaving hurt you more in the end."

"I thought about you every day," she confessed, causing Fred to smile.

"I was also scared to talk to you that day," he continued.

"_You_ were scared to talk to _me_?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah," Fred said, "stop feeling so insecure. I really like you, Cass."

"I know, but I'm still in shock that you finally fell for me. Why did you talk to me on the first day that I walked into your shop?"

"Why?" he repeated. "Well, for one, I thought you were pretty, and-,"

"I look pretty much the same as I did in school. I'm just a little taller and without the gap in my teeth."

"Cassie, I know what you're getting at. Stop feeling insecure, I mean it."

"I'm just trying to figure out why you noticed me now but not a few years ago."

"I'm not shallow, if that's what you're getting at. You said so yourself that you were really shy and we didn't talk in school. When you came into the shop, I was drawn to you at first, but as I got to know you, little by little, I liked you more and more. You were mysterious and I always wanted to know more. Now that I know you, I know you're smart, kind and interested in joke products and you can't go wrong with that."

That seemed to be the answer Cassie had been looking for because she nodded and relaxed into him again. Fred breathed a sigh of relief at avoiding what he suspected could have been a slowly brewing argument.

"During the battle," he said suddenly, "I didn't know where George was. Not knowing was just about killing me. I was afraid he was going to die. When Voldemort told us we had an hour to gather the dead, you know, when Harry was supposed to go to the forest, I didn't go into the Great Hall where everyone else was."

"Where did you go?" Cassie asked.

"I hid. I hid in a secret passageway. It was one that surprisingly wasn't damaged or caved in. I hid because I was afraid to see who might have died. I was afraid I might see George, or my mother, or Ginny or Ron. I hid so that I could get myself together until I was ready. Now I just feel guilty. I mean, what if someone in my family had died? They would have needed me and I was hiding."

Cassie didn't say anything but Fred could feel her eyes on him, her head tilted towards him as she studied his face.

"It's something I'm really ashamed of," he continued.

"Why?" Cassie asked. "You don't need to be ashamed. The fact that you did go down and face your fear makes you brave. Not everyone is ready to face fears right away. There's nothing wrong with taking a little while to get yourself together, especially after what happened that night. Wars and death aren't things that are easy to handle."

Fred looked down at her and he felt his fists unclenching. He hadn't even realized they had been clenched. "You don't think it was stupid of me?"

"Not at all," she said. "In fact, I know how you feel. I wanted to hide too after the battle."

"But you didn't," Fred said, his shoulders slumping.

"If I had known you were hiding too, I would have," she whispered. "We could have hidden together."

Fred smiled and buried his face against the skin between her shoulder and her neck. "I guess sometimes you just need to hide, right?"

"Exactly," Cassie agreed. "Sometimes it's just easier."

"But, to quote Dumbledore, sometimes we have to choose between what is right and what is easy."

Cassie giggled. "Smart man, Dumbledore." She reached up and ran her hand through Fred's hair as she looked up at the glowing 'W' shaped constellation in the sky. They sat like that in silence, just happy to be near each other with the comfort of the twinkling stars and glowing moon up above them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the longer than normal chapter. I hope everyone likes it. I think this chapter might actually be one of my favorites. Don't forget to review! I really appreciate reading them.**


	18. Chapter 18

"_Here comes the sun, and I say it's alright." **–The Beatles (Here Comes the Sun)**_

* * *

><p>Cassie woke up to a tapping sound. She rubbed her eyes groggily. The last thing she remembered was Fred carrying her inside and putting her on the couch. Opening her eyes all the way, she saw that she was still on the couch, wrapped in Fred's arms. The tapping sound was coming from the front window.<p>

Gently removing Fred's arm from around her shoulders, Cassie stood up and went to the window, where a beautiful owl was tapping on the glass. She opened the window and the owl flew in, sticking out its leg. Cassie pulled off the letter and opened it, petting the owl once before it flew away. She glanced at the clock, noticing it was nearly ten, before turning her attention back to the letter.

_Cassie_, the letter said, _we located Josh and brought him in for questioning this morning. We had to give him Veriteserum, but he did confess to taking the manuscript for your book. Unfortunately, he sent it in to the publishers already. He was going to publish it as his own. We can put off the publishing for a little while, but until the publishers get a signed or face to face confession from him, they won't release the book back to you or publish it with your name on it. _

_I, along with other members of the department will be working on getting Josh to officially confess. While he did confess to members of my department, our word isn't good enough for the publishers. I can assure you that once he officially confesses, there will be consequences. He is facing losing his job, paying a fine and attending a hearing since he stole one of your belongings and attempted to pass it off as his own. The purpose of this hearing won't be to see if he's guilty or not; we'll already have a confession, but we'll have to decide on a punishment. If there is a hearing, we'll need you to testify against him. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I know you'll understand all of this is necessary if you want to be able to claim your book again. Sincerely, Hermione._

Cassie sunk back onto the couch, absentmindedly picking up Fred's feet and putting them in her lap. She never took her eyes off the letter, even though she had already finished reading. Josh really had wanted to publish it as his own. She had said it the night before, but she hadn't truly wanted to believe it.

Fred let out a puff of air in his sleep and Cassie turned towards him, wondering if she should wake him up. She hesitantly reached out a hand to shake him, but stopped. He looked so peaceful and she didn't want him to worry about her more than he already was, but on the other hand if she didn't tell him now, he'd be upset that she didn't tell him as soon as she got the news.

"Fred," she whispered, reaching over and laying a hand on his arm. She gave it a gentle shake. "Fred, wake up."

"What is it?" Fred asked, shooting awake so fast that Cassie actually jumped and leaned back into the arm of the couch.

Fred looked back at her, frozen and with wide eyes. Cassie looked back at him, no doubt with the same expression, until she finally let out a laugh. "You scared me," she managed to breathe out.

Fred started laughing along with her and they got into a well needed fit of laughter, the kind where after a while you have no idea why you were laughing in the first place.

"I needed that," Cassie sighed a few minutes later, leaning into Fred. They were sitting side by side now and Fred's head was thrown back against the couch as he caught the breath he had lost from laughing.

"Me too," he said. "So, why did you wake me up in the first place? Was there something you needed to tell me?"

"Yeah," Cassie said, her insides growing heavy again, "I got a response from Hermione." She picked the letter up from where it had fallen next to her on the couch.

"You did? What'd she say?" Fred asked, tearing the letter from her grasp. Cassie watched as his eyes moved across the page at top speed.

"Yeah," Cassie said, raising her eyebrows and nodding slightly when Fred stopped reading and handed the letter back to her, his mouth open.

"That—that-," Fred stuttered, his face growing red with anger.

Cassie half smiled. "Yes?" she prodded.

"I'm trying to think of a name to call him that would be appropriate for civil conversation."

"It's just us and I am a big girl, but should I cover my ears?"Cassie asked with a smirk.

"No, I'll just call him names in my head," Fred answered. "Lots of them, too."

"What are we going to do?" Cassie asked. "I guess all we really can do is wait until they get a written confession from him."

"I can go down there and force him to confess," Fred said, tapping his wand against his palm.

"Fred, no, that's not going to solve anything. And we don't need you getting in trouble too."

"He won't do it on his own," Fred said. "Do you really think he's going to write a confession or personally confess to the publishers? He doesn't want to get in trouble. He's going to say he didn't do it. As it is, he only confessed the first time because of Veriteserum."

"Maybe they'll use it again. The people working at the Ministry are trained for this kind of stuff. They'll figure it out." Cassie tried to sound more upbeat and confident than she actually felt. She didn't know if it was working, but nevertheless, Fred didn't say anything more. He just put his arm around her and pulled her close.

* * *

><p>Cassie ended up being right about the Veriteserum. The Ministry used it to get an official confession from Josh in front of the publishing company. Josh was going to have to go to a hearing and Cassie was going to have to testify against him. She was dreading it. Sure, she wanted to be able to publish her own book as just that: her own, but she didn't want to face Josh. He was sure to be angrier at her than ever before since she was helping to get him in trouble.<p>

Fred agreed to accompany Cassie to the hearing. He offered, actually, and was more than happy to be there for her. He even went as far as offering to be a witness, but he hadn't really witnessed anything Cassie hadn't already seen. He had also agreed to bring her to dinner at the Burrow the following week instead of the Sunday coming up like they had originally planned. This way, Cassie wouldn't be a stressed bundle of nerves. By the following week, the hearing would be off her chest.

"Don't be so nervous," Fred told Cassie as they walked down to the courtroom.

Cassie shot him a look. "Do you know how angry he's going to be?"

"It doesn't matter. He's in a Ministry courtroom. He can't do anything to you or anyone else without getting into more trouble."

"He's already in trouble. Maybe he figures 'hey, what's a little more'?"

Fred shook his head. "Think about it. Why would he want to get into more when right now all he's facing is losing his job and paying a fine?"

"_All_ he's facing?" Cassie asked. "That's already pretty bad. He loves that job-,"

"—a little too much," Fred interrupted. "He's obsessed and he over works himself. It might do him good to be off work for a while."

"It'll take him forever to get another job with this on his record," Cassie answered.

"Are you feeling sorry for him?" Fred asked. He stopped and spun Cassie to face him.

"Maybe a little," she replied guiltily.

"Don't," Fred answered. He shook his head. "He did a lot worse to you than you did to him. You're doing the right thing"

Cassie nodded and reached for Fred's hand, gripping it tightly as they turned to enter the courtroom.

"I'm sorry," a Ministry official said, holding up a hand to stop Fred, "but unless you're participating in the trial, you can't go inside."

"Can't I just go in to support her?" Fred asked. "She's nervous and I'm her boyfriend." He held up their intertwined hands.

"I'm sorry," the Ministry wizard said again, shaking his head, "but you'll have to wait out here."

"What rubbish," Fred mumbled into Cassie's ear, "but you'll be great, everything will be fine, and this will all be over before you know it."

Cassie nodded. Her throat felt dry and constricted, but she still managed to speak. "I'll be okay," she whispered.

"I know you will be," Fred replied, kissing her forehead.

Cassie entered the courtroom, glancing one last time over her shoulder at Fred, who gave her an encouraging smile.

* * *

><p>Fred paced around the hallway outside the courtroom door. He couldn't stay still. He had tried sitting, leaning against the wall, and just standing still, but none of it was working. He needed to keep busy and the only thing he could think of to do was pace.<p>

"You certainly seem tense," a passing Ministry worker said, looking at Fred with an amused half smile.

"I am," Fred answered, stopping in his tracks.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

"Yeah," Fred tilted his head towards the courtroom door.

"Well I hope they aren't found guilty," the Ministry worker said.

"What-? Oh, no, the person I'm waiting isn't—she's just testifying against someone."

"Oh, you just seemed so nervous. Well, it looks like they're finished."

Fred turned back towards the courtroom door to see it opening and all the members of the jury filing out. Cassie was the last person out of the room.

"Well?" Fred asked hopefully.

Cassie looked blankly back at him before laughing and running towards him. She flung herself into his arms and he caught her and spun her around, laughing with her. "Why are we laughing?" he asked. "I assume it's good news, but what exactly happened?"

"He lost his job and has to pay the fine. It's a pretty big amount too. The publishing company's also going to return my book to me so that I can add the finishing touches. They definitely want to publish it, though, so when I'm done they want me to send it back to them and they're going to publish it! I'm going to be a real author, Fred!" Cassie spoke quickly and excitedly.

"That's great!" Fred picked her up and spun her around again, sharing her excitement.

"Yeah, a real bowl of happiness," said a miserable, sarcastic voice behind them.

Fred froze and he felt Cassie tense in his arms. Looking over her shoulder, Fred saw Josh standing in the doorway of the courtroom. "Leave us alone, Josh," Fred said exasperatedly.

"Gladly," he sneered, shooting glares at both Cassie and Fred before heading down the hallway.

"By the way, where did he go after he left your place and how did the Ministry find him?" Fred whispered as they watched Josh's retreating back.

"Hermione said they found him living with his parents. The Ministry was going to send someone to question his parents about where he could have gone anyway, and he just happened to be there when they went."

"You don't still feel guilty about this, do you?" Fred asked.

"No," Cassie shook her head. "You were right. What I did was the right thing to do. He's a jerk and I was unhappy with him. It just took me a while to actually do something about it."

"I'm glad you did," Fred answered.

"Me too," Cassie responded, hugging him tighter and resting her cheek against his chest. "When I'm with you I actually feel safe and happy and respected."

"As it should be," Fred answered. "You should have never dated Josh."

"I did like him at one point," Cassie shrugged, "but now I don't know why."

"He was just a distraction to help you get over me," Fred said against her ear, "but really you were just always supposed to be with me."

"The first part makes me sound like an inconsiderate jerk," Cassie scolded with a laugh, "but the second part I can't help but agree with."

Fred let out a small laugh. "At least this is all over and now you can focus on dealing with dinner at the Burrow on Sunday and meeting my family."

"That's nothing compared to this," Cassie smirked as they started walking down the hallway hand in hand. "I'm not even that nervous anymore."

"You shouldn't be," Fred told her, "but I will warn you to come hungry. My mum's going to cook enough food to feed the entire country." He rolled his eyes. "My dad loves Muggles so he might talk about his plug collection and Percy will talk about work. Ron sometimes talks without thinking and Ginny can be brutally honest, but in general, my family's pretty loud and crazy and somewhat embarrassing, so if-,"

"If your family is anything like you and George, then I'm sure I'm going to love them," Cassie interrupted.

Fred smiled. Even still, he hoped his family wouldn't be too embarrassing. The last thing that he wanted was for Cassie to be scared away after he had just won her over.

He grinned goofily at her. "You love me the most, though, right? George is just second best?"

"Of course, but don't tell him that. He might take away my gift basket."

Fred laughed as Cassie leaned up and kissed him quickly on the cheek. This had been so worth the chase.


	19. Chapter 19

"_Just a shot in the dark that you just might be the one I've been waiting for my whole life." **–Lady Antebellum (Just A Kiss)**_

* * *

><p>"So this is the Burrow?" Cassie said, looking up at the tall, crooked house in front of her.<p>

"This is the Burrow," Fred repeated. "I know it's tall and crooked, and overall not very big, but it was my home for seventeen years and I love it."

"I love it too," Cassie said, turning to smile at him.

Fred smiled back at her. "Well, then wait until you see the inside."

Cassie let him lead her to the door and she held back a little as he pushed it open. "Come on," he whispered, "there's nothing to be afraid of."

Tentatively, Cassie stepped inside the house and Fred shut the door behind them. Noises could be heard from the kitchen; sounds of laughter and talking and food being made. "We're here!" Fred called, and the noises all stopped at once.

"Fred?" A short, plump, redheaded woman stuck her head out of the kitchen. "You're here! George just arrived not too long ago as well."

"Are we late?" Fred asked.

"No, you're right on time, dear." The woman, who Cassie knew could only be Fred's mother, stepped out of the kitchen. Cassie could see a crowd of other people, most of them redheaded, standing around the door looking out at her. She looked away, back towards Fred's mother.

"This is Cassie," Fred said, gently nudging her forward. "Cassie, this is my mum."

"Hi, it's great to finally meet you," Cassie said.

Mrs. Weasley stepped forward and, to Cassie's surprise, gave her a warm, tight hug. "I've heard a lot about you," she said. "I'm Molly Weasley. We're all so glad you could make it. The whole family's been dying to meet you."

"Have they?" Cassie asked.

"Of course," Mrs. Weasley answered.

"Why wouldn't we be curious to meet her when she was the topic of an entire dinner discussion not too long ago?" Ron said from the doorway.

"What?" Cassie asked, her eyes widening. They had spent a whole meal talking about her? She knew that Fred had talked to them about her but she hadn't been aware that she had been the topic of discussion throughout an entire dinner.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley scolded. "Don't make her feel uncomfortable. Come on, Cassie, let's go into the kitchen and I'll introduce you to everyone."

"What did you all say about me?" Cassie whispered to Fred.

"We were talking about the fact that I liked you, but you were with Josh. My mum wanted me to move on," Fred answered.

"I want you to be happy, Fred!" Mrs. Weasley said defiantly.

Fred smiled at his mother as she sent him a look from where she was crossing the room to the stove. She stirred something in a pot before turning back to face Cassie. Everyone was standing around the table now and they were all staring at her as well. It was making her slightly uneasy. At least she knew Hermione and George. She caught George's eye and he smiled warmly.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley began, stepping up next to a redheaded man and placing a hand on his shoulder, "this is my husband Arthur."

"Nice to meet you," Mr. Weasley said. He shook Cassie's hand.

"Nice to meet you too," she answered. "I hear you have a plug collection."

"Don't get him started," Fred, George, Ron and Ginny said at once. Cassie looked around as if she had said something wrong.

Mr. Weasley sent a stern look at his children before looking back at Cassie. "I do in fact have a plug collection. Do you happen to know a lot about them?"

"No, not really," Cassie answered. "I'm sorry."

"Ah, well, I can still show you my collection later if you'd like. They're quite interesting."

"I'm sure they are and I'd love to see them." Cassie smiled and almost giggled when she looked up at Fred who was impatiently blowing a puff of air out of his mouth.

"You already know George," Mrs. Weasley said, continuing the introductions, "and this is Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, who you know, Bill, and his wife Fleur."

"Hello," Cassie said, waving at all of them.

"So, you're the girl," Bill said leaning back in his chair once they had all sat down.

"Bill," Fred said, his voice holding both a pleading and warning tone.

"What?" Bill asked innocently. He looked back at Cassie. "You must know he's liked you for a while."

"Yeah, I kind of figured he might," Cassie said shyly, a small smile appearing on her face as she glanced at Fred.

"Well at least you knew," Ginny added. "We didn't know anything until about a month ago when we found out Fred wasn't enjoying any of the blind dates George and Katie set him up on."

"How many did you go on?" Cassie asked Fred curiously.

"Twelve," he answered.

"And you didn't like any of them?"

"Not really," Fred answered.

"He would have," George said, "if he hadn't been so taken with you."

"Well, I'm flattered," Cassie laughed, "and I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble."

"Now that I'm looking back on it, I can say I enjoyed it," Fred shrugged.

"Oh yeah, you enjoyed being miserable," Ginny snorted with a small smile.

"I'm not miserable anymore and that's what counts. Can we eat now?" Fred turned his attention to his mother as Cassie laughed. His mouth turned up slightly at the corners but otherwise he kept a straight face. It was a skill that had taken him and George a while to learn how to do as it was nearly impossible for them of all people to keep a straight face. However, it was necessary so that they wouldn't give themselves away when they pulled a prank on someone.

"Yes, we can eat now," Mrs. Weasley said. She was smiling as well as she placed many dishes filled with food on the table.

"You've outdone yourself tonight, Mum," Bill said.

"We have a guest," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I'm a guest," Bill said.

"No, you're not," Ginny argued.

"I don't live here anymore," Bill responded.

"But you used to." Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"Just because you don't live here doesn't mean you're no longer part of the family," Mr. Weasley said. "On the other hand, we've never even met Cassie before."

"And we're happy to have her here with us." Mrs. Weasley smiled warmly.

"I told everyone about what happened with your book and about the outcome of the hearing," Hermione said. "I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all," Cassie said, shaking her head.

"We were all very happy to hear that the hearing went well and you're able to publish your book as your own now," Mrs. Weasley said.

"When will it be coming out in stores?" Percy asked.

"Just before Christmas, actually," Cassie answered. "So if anyone needs a gift idea…" she trailed off and shrugged as a grin lit up her face.

Everyone laughed and once it had died down, Mrs. Weasley spoke again. "It was just awful what Josh did to you. He had no right to steal your book."

"No, he didn't have any right at all," Cassie agreed seriously. She still didn't like talking about Josh. It made her feel uncomfortable.

"He's a jerk," Ginny said. "Forget about him. You're better off with my goof of a brother."

"Agreed," Bill nodded. "He and George may be crazy, have a slight tendency to blow things up, and-,"

"A _slight_ tendency?" Percy asked, raising his eyebrows and adjusting his glasses.

"Alright, a big tendency," Bill chuckled.

"Yeah, Cass, you really don't know what you got into," George said. He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.

"She'll be fine," Fred argued, waving his hand dismissively and giving Cassie's shoulder a squeeze.

"I don't know, I'm getting kind of scared. Your sister called you a goof, and your brother called you crazy and said you have a tendency to blow things up." Cassie smirked at Fred.

"A _big_ tendency," Percy reminded her.

Cassie smiled and looked at Fred, tilting her head towards Percy and wearing an expression that said he had proved her point.

"I think you can handle it," Fred answered.

"I'll certainly give it a try," she smiled.

"Maybe you are brave after all," he whispered in her ear, causing her to grin.

* * *

><p>"That was delicious," Cassie told Mrs. Weasley once they had finished dinner. Everyone was moving from the kitchen to the living room but Cassie stayed where she was. "I can help you clean up." She picked up her dish and headed for the sink.<p>

"No, that's alright," Mrs. Weasley said, stopping Cassie and taking her dish from her. "Ginny can help me. You just go enjoy yourself." She handed Cassie's plate to Ginny who brought it to the sink.

"I can dry the dishes," Cassie offered, picking up a dishtowel. "I don't mind and you did prepare this whole dinner after all."

"Oh, well, alright," Mrs. Weasley said with a small smile.

"Yeah, I think you should go relax, Mum," Ginny said. "We'll take care of everything in here. It won't take long."

After a little more persuasion, Mrs. Weasley agreed and went to go sit in the living room with the others. Once she had left the room, Ginny spoke. "So," she began.

"So," Cassie repeated with a smile, taking a dish from Ginny and drying it.

"Maybe it'll be better if you wash and I dry," Ginny suggested. "I know where everything goes. It'll be faster."

"Okay," Cassie answered, switching places with Ginny. "You don't use magic to do this?"

"Sometimes we do," Ginny said, "but sometimes we don't. It depends on what mood we're in, I guess."

"Oh," Cassie answered. She continued washing dishes, waiting for Ginny to speak again and say what she had been about to say earlier. Cassie couldn't help but think it had to do with her and Fred.

"So how did it happen?" Ginny asked.

"How did what happen?"

"Fred only wrote to us and told us you were together and he was bringing you to dinner. He hasn't said anything else. I just want to know how you two ended up together."

"Well, he found out Josh was going to ask me to marry him and he was going to try and stop it, so he showed up, but I had already said no. Fred took me to the Three Broomsticks and we talked and started dating that night."

"I'm glad you said no to Josh," Ginny said. "He's a jerk first of all. Secondly, my brother's a lot happier now. I only found out about you recently, but it was obvious he really liked you and still does. Plus, I can tell I'm going to like having you around."

"So you approve?" Cassie asked, half joking.

Ginny nodded.

"What about your parents?"

"They like you as well. I could tell, so don't worry about a thing."

"I'm glad I passed the test," Cassie smirked, handing Ginny a dish. There was a moment of silence. "Did Fred tell you that I liked him when we were at Hogwarts?"

"No!" Ginny squealed, looking at Cassie with surprise.

"Well I did," Cassie answered, smiling. "I liked him for two years until I kind of forced myself to give up, but it took a while. Fifth year was when I told myself I was done liking him, but sixth year, he went to the Yule Ball with Angelina and I had to pretend I didn't care, even though I did and it scared me that I wasn't completely over him yet so I pushed him even more out of my mind and then I started liking Josh, Fred left school, and I never saw him again."

"Until last year," Ginny corrected.

"Until last year," Cassie repeated. "I set myself up for that, too. I walked into his shop."

Ginny shook her head. "You did set yourself up."

"I didn't expect him to talk to me. We didn't talk in school. He didn't even know me and I didn't talk to him because I never thought he would like me."

"I thought that with Harry," Ginny said. "I always thought he would forever see me as his best friends little sister or like a sister he never had."

"But at least you knew him and got to talk to him all the time. You were friends with him and he even stayed over at your house during the summers, didn't he?"

"Ah, but that's even worse," Ginny answered. "He was always around but it took him years to return my feelings. I thought he never would and he was constantly around. It was making it almost impossible to for me to get over him."

"You have a point," Cassie agreed. "You know, it's been so long since I've talked to a girl like this. I had friends in school, but we grew apart."

"You don't have any brothers or sisters?"

"None," Cassie answered, handing Ginny the last dish. "I've always wanted a lot of siblings. Even just one would've been great."

"Hey, look at it this way," Ginny said. "If you're an only child, you don't have anyone around to fight with."

"Yeah, but growing up I didn't have anyone around to talk to or play with. It got lonely."

"Well you won't be lonely anymore. You can come over here any time you'd like and hang out with us. Being the only girl in a family of boys can get pretty lonely too," Ginny smirked.

"Deal," Cassie agreed.

"We're going to get along great," Ginny assured her. Cassie smiled. She could tell that she was going to fit in just fine with Fred's family.

Just as they were finishing up with washing the dishes, there was a shriek from the living room. Glancing at each other with wide eyes, the two girls raced to the living room doorway.

"What's going on?" Cassie asked, scanning the room. At her words, every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at her. Just Mrs. Weasley alone was wide eyed and on the verge of tears.

"Why is everyone staring at you like that?" Ginny whispered.

"I don't know," Cassie whispered back. Had she done something? Were they angry with her? She couldn't imagine what they could have found out to make them look at her so strangely. Yes, the past year had been crazy; the past few _weeks_ had been crazy for that matter, but that had already been out in the open and she certainly didn't think it was reason for everyone to be staring at her like they were now.

"What's going on?" she asked again. She looked at Fred and George, the only two who weren't staring at her with wide eyes. Instead, they were grinning. "Fred, George?" she asked slowly. "What did you tell them?"


	20. Chapter 20

_"I should have listened to my best friend. She knew we'd be a perfect match." **-Love Story (Katharine McPhee)**_

* * *

><p>Fred and George were still grinning and Cassie was still panicking slightly. She didn't know what had happened to make the entire Weasley family minus Fred and George stare at her with wide eyes.<p>

She was mentally going over her entire life in her head. She didn't have a criminal record, she had gotten good grades in school, she wasn't one to get into a lot of serious trouble, so what could they be talking about?

"Come on, Cass," Fred laughed. "It's not that hard. You can figure it out. What's something that only you, George and I know?"

Cassie looked at him blankly. "I don't know. I can't think right now."

"Yeah, we thought something was wrong when we heard Mum scream," Ginny added.

"No, it's something good," Fred assured them. "Cass, come on, it's easy. You were bursting to break the news to George."

Cassie blinked a few times and then gasped. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been. With everything that had been going on, she had completely forgotten that the rest of Fred and George's family didn't know that she had helped Fred during the battle. She almost laughed out of relief. It wasn't something bad after all.

"You told them?" she asked. "You told them what I did?"

"We told them what you did," George repeated with a nod and a grin.

"What did you do?" Ginny asked curiously. No one answered her.

"I had forgotten that Fred hadn't told everyone yet." Cassie felt herself blushing.

"Told us what?" Ginny asked, more urgently this time. "I don't want to be the only one who doesn't know! Tell me what you did, Cassie."

"Go ahead," Fred grinned. "Tell her what you did."

"Oh no," Cassie said, shaking her head. "You took it upon yourself to tell everyone else. I think you should be the one to tell Ginny." Her expression softened. "Plus, it might mean more from you."

"Fine," Fred answered. "Ginny, she-," but Mrs. Weasley cut him off by jumping up and hugging Cassie tightly.

"She saved his life. That's what she did."

Cassie gave a small laugh. "I don't think I _saved_ his life."

"You did," Fred said. "You're being so modest. I'm sitting here today because of you."

"Mum, couldn't you have contained yourself until after Fred told me what Cassie did?" Ginny asked, sounding extremely impatient.

"Someone better tell her," Ron warned with a grin, "before she explodes with impatience."

"I healed his leg. That's all I did." Cassie looked right at Fred as she talked and gave him a small smile.

"You healed his-?" Ginny began, her mouth falling open, but Fred cut across her.

"Cassie, if you hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to move out of the way or get my wand."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Cassie looked at Fred. "Well, honestly, I wasn't even thinking of it today," she admitted.

"I wanted to wait until we were all in one place. That's why I was planning on telling everyone tonight," Fred said, "but I waited until Cassie wasn't in the room because I didn't want to put her on the spot and embarrass her or anything."

"Like I am right now?" she asked with a laugh.

"Well you can't say I didn't try," Fred shrugged. "It wasn't my fault you ran in here and asked what was going on."

"We thought something was wrong!" Cassie argued with a laugh.

"Well, Mum will have to work on not screaming so much," George said.

"I couldn't help it." Mrs. Weasley shook her head. "It was so unexpected."

"And you couldn't have waited for me to come in here before you said something?" Ginny asked Fred. Her hands were on her hips and her eyebrows were raised.

"Well you were with Cassie and you found out now so everyone's happy, right?" Fred asked. He leaned back into the couch and rested his hands behind his head.

"No," Ginny complained. Then, she broke into a huge smile, raced to the couch and jumped on it, wrapping her arms around Fred. "Yes."

Cassie just smiled and leaned against the doorframe. Fred, who had been hugging Ginny, looked up at her. "Why don't you sit down and stay a while?" he joked. "We're nice people, you know."

"Yeah, we're just a little odd," George added as he and Ginny scooted over to make room for Cassie next to Fred.

"You aren't that odd," she said, leaning back into the couch. Fred brought his arm around the back of the couch, his fingertips lightly brushing her shoulder, enough to make her shiver slightly. When she glanced at him, he was smirking at her. She blushed and looked away.

"So why did you do it?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah, why did you?" Percy asked.

Cassie looked down at her hands. "Fred didn't tell you?" she asked.

"No, he hadn't gotten to that part," Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, it's simple. It's just that I didn't want him to die. We weren't close friends or anything. Just the opposite, actually, in the sense that we didn't speak at all. I was in the area at the time of the explosion. I heard it, and when I ran around the corner, I almost tripped over him. He was lying there, coughing from all of the dust, his leg bent out at a weird angle, and his wand lying just out of his reach. I couldn't just ignore it. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."

She felt like she had told the story and explained herself a million times, but surprisingly she didn't feel tired of telling it. She didn't like reliving that moment, but she didn't feel annoyed at having to tell the story over and over. Maybe it was because she had only been asked to tell it by Fred's family. They had a right to know what had happened to their son. Everything except the part about her crazy crush on him. She had told Ginny, and George knew as well, but that was different. She really didn't want, say, Fred's parents to know. That would be mortifying.

"She had a crush on me," Fred said, grinning. Cassie fought the urge to groan. It was almost as if he had known that his words would embarrass her and he had taken pride in making sure he said them. His tone _did_ have a hint of pride in it, but it hadn't come from embarrassing her or even pompousness. It was more of a tone that said he was proud someone like Cassie liked him. Sensing this, Cassie smiled, but she was still embarrassed at what he had said.

"Did you _have _to tell them that?" she asked, swatting him as the others laughed.

"So basically," Mr. Weasley finally said, "you risked your life to save Fred's."

"I don't think I _risked_ my life. The explosion had already happened, and-,"

"—there were still Death Eaters running around and people shooting spells everywhere. Most people didn't have time to stay in one place. Everyone had to keep moving and keep their eyes open for anything and everything," Hermione said. "You stopped and focused on Fred instead of the battle going on around you."

"I-," Cassie stuttered, blinking at Hermione. The girl had a point.

"I'm not stupid, Cassie," Hermione smiled. "Plus, I've been around Harry too long. That's exactly something he would do, right down to the modesty."

"You can't be modest around these people," Harry said, shaking his head and grinning. "They won't allow it. They like to give credit where credit's due."

"Good to know," Cassie said with a laugh.

"You also can't be overly independent and insist you can do something on your own," Harry continued, his tone clearly teasing. "They won't allow that either. They'll insist on helping you."

"Harry," Hermione scolded. She rolled her eyes, but a smile was threatening to take over her face.

"It's not our fault that you were stubborn and had trouble comprehending the meaning of 'together', mate," Ron added.

Cassie smiled and sighed wistfully, wishing that she could have had a friendship like Harry, Ron and Hermione had. She had had one once, but that had all changed very quickly.

"What are you thinking?" Fred whispered into her ear as conversation began amongst the other inhabitants of the room.

She shook her head. "Just reminiscing." She smiled and looked up at him.

He stared back at her before gently easing her away from her and standing up. "Come on," he said, holding out his hands.

Cassie looked up at him. She knew he was going to try to get her to talk and he would most likely succeed. He was good at getting people to talk. She reached out and took his hands, letting him pull her to her feet. Even though the conversation around them kept going steadily, Cassie could feel all eyes flick to her and Fred, who dropped one of her hands and led her outside, his left hand still holding her right.

She didn't know where he was taking her, but she didn't ask. In fact, neither one of them spoke at all for a long time. She hadn't realized how big the yard was until now, as Fred led her around the side of the house to the backyard and all the way across it to a pond surrounded by a few trees, including a willow tree standing at one end.

"Will you tell me now?" Fred asked, pulling back the leaves of the willow tree and leading her under it.

"You have a lovely backyard," Cassie said, glancing over her shoulder, trying to buy herself some time.

"Yeah," Fred said slowly, giving her a look that said he knew what she was doing. "We spent a lot of time out here as kids. We still use the area just over those trees to play Quidditch when we have enough people around willing to play." He pulled aside some of the willow tree leaves and pointed before letting them fall back into place. "But don't avoid the question. You were obviously thinking about something back there. You looked kind of sad. What's wrong?" He reached up with his free hand and rubbed his thumb across Cassie's cheek.

She took a deep breath. "I was just thinking about my best friend. We were best friends all through Hogwarts..." she trailed off.

"Until?" Fred prodded, sensing there was more to the story. He was right, of course.

"We got in a fight. I was just missing her seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione together." With that, she felt the tears start flowing from her eyes. Fred looked alarmed and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was such a hard topic for you to talk about."

"Our fight was about Josh," Cassie sniffled against Fred's chest. "She hated him, but I didn't listen to her. I kept dating him anyway. This was back at the end of our seventh year, before he started behaving the way he has been. Anyway, Emmy, that was her name. It was short for Emily, but I always called her Em, or Emily. That's not the point, though. The point is that she always had incredibly accurate instincts. She told me there was something about Josh that she didn't like, but like I said I didn't listen."

"Is that why you fought?" Fred asked, tracing circles across her lower back, helping to calm Cassie down.

Taking a small, shuddering breath, she continued. "Yeah, that's why we fought. You see, she was very opinionated and strong willed as well as smart, caring and loyal. Maybe almost too loyal. She told me that the Sorting Hat almost put her in Hufflepuff, but in the end chose Ravenclaw. That's not the point either though." She sighed and forced herself to continue. "She didn't want to see me get hurt, but I was being stubborn. Basically, I chose Josh over her. I didn't exactly say it right out, but-,"

"—that's what it looked like," Fred finished sympathetically.

"Exactly," Cassie said sadly. "We got into a fight about him and my relationship with him versus my relationship with her. I desperately wanted to make up with her, and I tried after the fight and after we graduated, but she wouldn't even speak to me and I knew she wouldn't until I broke up with Josh."

"So why didn't you?" Fred asked. "Break up with him, I mean. A whole lot of things could have worked out better, it seems."

Cassie took another breath, but she felt her throat constricting again.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Fred said quickly.

"I was going to break up with him. I had planned on dumping him and fixing things with her. It wasn't worth it anymore, you know? I figured she must have had some reason to hate Josh, but then when I woke up the morning after that decision, my mum told me that Voldemort had gone after her family. She was a Muggleborn, you see." Cassie could feel herself shaking now and tears were welling up behind her eyes again.

"You mean he—Voldemort went and-?" Fred didn't even have to finish trying to make coherent sentences for Cassie to know what he meant. She nodded her head, the fabric of his shirt soft against her cheek.

Fred was silent as he slid down the trunk of the tree, pulling her with him. Without objection she rested her head comfortably on his chest again.

"It was his Death Eaters, I think," she said. "Not Voldemort himself. I don't know. I didn't want to hear all the terrible details. All I knew was that my best friend was gone and I had never gotten the chance to apologize or fix things."

"I'm so, so sorry, Cass," Fred whispered. "I'm sorry I made you talk about it."

Cassie shook her head. "I haven't talked about it in years. Not since I broke the news to Josh, actually. That's the last time I told someone about it and the last time I talked about it."

"How did he react, by the way?"

"Josh? He was upset of course, but it didn't affect him as much, I don't think. I mean, it was no secret between us that she didn't like him one bit. I think the feeling was mutual. He was there to comfort me for a while, which was great, but then he kind of gave up. I think he tired of me being so miserable, but she was my best friend for so long and I felt even worse knowing that I hadn't listened to her. I had chosen Josh over her. I never got to fix it and now look what Josh has done.

"Every time he did something to me, whether accidentally while in one of his rages, or on purpose, I would look at the bruise and think of Emmy. If she could have seen me, she would have said 'I told you so' and crossed her arms." She gave a weak laugh. "I feel like such a horrible person and such a horrible friend. I should have trusted her."

"No," Fred said. "You didn't know what was going to happen to her and you wanted to fix things."

"It wasn't good enough, just wanting it. I ran out of time to do something about it. I took everything for granted. I knew her family was at more of a risk, but I thought they would be well protected. I thought they would find a way to keep Voldemort out."

"They probably were well protected, but Voldemort had his ways. I don't think anyone could keep him out once he was bent on getting what he wanted."

"I wish I could tell her I'm sorry," Cassie said. "I wish I could tell her I got rid of Josh and that I have you now. She would have loved to see me with you."

"I'm sure she knows. I'm sure wherever she is that she knows," Fred answered, stroking Cassie's hair.

They sat in silence for a few moments. "Fred?" Cassie finally asked.

"Yeah?" he responded, turning his gaze from the strips of dark blue, starry sky visible between the tree branches to look down at the girl snuggled against him.

"She knew I liked you," Cassie said. She was staring straight ahead through the branches at the pond, the water shimmering and reflecting the sky above it. "She thought I had as good of a chance with you as anyone else and she was always pushing me to talk to you, but every time she wound up convincing me, I chickened out."

"You really should have listened to her," Fred said with a small smile and nudging her gently. "She gave good advice."

Cassie didn't answer, but her body tensed up. She wished she had listened to her best friend. That's why she felt so horrible. She didn't need reminders of it. "I know," she whispered finally.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I should have said that," Fred apologized.

"Forget it," Cassie answered, pulling away from him and sitting up.

"I was just trying to make you feel better. I didn't think before I spoke."

"Clearly," she said, still staring straight ahead.

"Cassie," Fred pleaded. He grabbed her shoulder. "Look at me."

"I had just told you that I felt awful for not listening to her," Cassie said, letting her hurt and anger show in her voice. "And then you went and stuck it in my face again as if you were being funny because if I had listened to her you would have known me sooner. I know you now! Why can't you be happy with that?"

"I am happy! You know that, Cass," Fred said.

Half of her wanted to say she did know that and snuggle back against him. End of story, fight averted. But on the other hand, she was too riled up and angry to stop. Words were pouring out of her mouth without control. "Do I?" she asked. "Do I know that? Are you really happy we're together now or are you just happy fate worked out in your favor? That you 'scored' the girl?" She made quote marks in the air. "Am _I _even happy?" She jumped up and looked down at him.

Fred jumped up too and glared at her. "I certainly thought you were." His voice was rising now and Cassie knew she was really pushing it. She was making him angry now. "Excuse me for thinking you were happier with me than Josh, that scumbag who even your best friend didn't like but you wouldn't dump. You just told me you wanted to apologize to Emmy for not listening to her sooner, so what exactly are you trying to say here?"

"Will you just stop it?" Cassie asked, actually stomping her foot in frustration. "Maybe I meant that I'm not happy with Josh _or _you. Did you ever think of that?"

Fred didn't respond and the two of them just stood there, staring at each other, breathing heavily with red angry faces.

"You know what?" Cassie asked. "I should never have told you about Emmy. I didn't tell you anything sooner because I don't like to talk about it and this is why. You don't understand. You still related it to the whole story of me and you as if it was all part of our inside joke about us meeting and fate and all that, but it's not." She was crying again and she wiped her hand across her face.

"First of all," Fred began, "I already-,"

"What's going on?" a voice interrupted. Both Fred and Cassie turned toward the sound. It was Mrs. Weasley and she looked concerned. "Is something wrong? I was going to come out and ask if you both wanted a cup of tea, but I heard shouting."

"Everything's fine, Mrs. Weasley," Cassie said quickly. She didn't look at Fred and she didn't know if it was because she couldn't or wouldn't, but either way, she didn't look up.

"Okay," Mrs. Weasley said slowly and somewhat disbelievingly. "Well, why don't you come in for a warm cup of tea, then?"

"Actually, thank you, but I should be getting home. I have work tomorrow and I still have lots to do." That was somewhat of a lie. She did have work the next day, but she didn't have much to do and it wasn't exactly late. "Thank you for everything, though, Mrs. Weasley. The food was great."

"Oh, you're very welcome dear," Mrs. Weasley said, patting Cassie's back as they hugged. She still looked confused, but Cassie didn't offer any information and neither did Fred, who Cassie could see was silently and angrily standing with his arms crossed.

Cassie all but ran back to the house and said a quick goodbye to the others, followed by an apology that she couldn't stay longer. For their sakes, she wished she could have. She Disapparated back to her house and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. How could a night that had started out so perfectly, turn out so horrible?

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><p><strong>AN: This is another chapter that's kind of on the longer side, but I hope everyone likes it. If you did, then review! If you didn't, and you want to give constructive criticism, then go for it! **

**Also, where I am, it's officially Halloween so Happy Halloween to all my readers just in case I don't update later on today or tonight! :D Is anyone dressing up? If you are, what are you dressing up as?**


	21. Chapter 21

_"So this is me swallowing my pride, standing in front of you saying I'm sorry for that night." **-Back to December (Taylor Swift)**_

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><p>As Cassie sat in her room that same night, she began to think that perhaps she had overreacted slightly, but on the other hand, she had just told Fred her biggest secret. It was one that still made her feel guilty and talking about it had been a lot harder than she had anticipated. She hadn't expected Fred to be as deeply upset as she was, but what he said had upset her even if he hadn't meant it.<p>

Deep down, however, she knew he hadn't meant to hurt her. He had only been trying to make her feel better and the way he made people feel better was through laughter. She knew he wasn't a complete idiot and wouldn't poke fun at a story like that. She also knew he was slightly impulsive, which had probably been a factor.

She thought everything over before deciding that in the morning, once they had both had a chance to cool off and clear their heads, she would try to talk to him again and make this right. She didn't want to make the same mistake as last time. She knew too well how fast things could change and even though the war was over, people weren't in any more danger, and she had less of a chance of losing Fred physically, she didn't want to lose him in the other sense—as a friend and boyfriend—either.

The next morning, Cassie got up early. She hadn't slept well and eventually decided it was no use staying in bed any longer. However, all morning, she did keep putting off going to see Fred. She didn't know where they stood or if he would be ready to talk to her and accept her apology yet. Instead, she moved around the house, doing pointless tasks like straightening the couch cushions and wiping down the kitchen counter simply because she couldn't keep still.

By midmorning, she was annoyed with herself. As much as she wanted to, she simply couldn't bring herself to leave the house.

As she was fiddling with the blinds in the living room, a loud pop resounded right outside. Her hopes rising and her stomach clenching, she hastily made a space in two of the blind slats so that she could peek outside. She was slightly disappointed when she saw it was not Fred, but Ginny.

"Open up!" Ginny yelled, reaching the door and knocking loudly. Three quick knocks.

Cassie swung the door open and stared at the girl standing on her doorstep. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you, of course. Why else would I be here?"

"Well come in, then," Cassie said, biting her lip nervously. The words were barely out of her mouth before Ginny stepped inside the room, looking around.

"How did you find out where I lived?" Cassie asked.

"Well, here's the story," Ginny sighed, leaning against the arm of the couch. "You left really quickly last night, which confused us. You looked really upset. We didn't know what had happened."

"It wasn't you," Cassie said quickly.

"You got into a fight with Fred," Ginny answered simply.

Cassie blinked a few times. "He told you?"

Ginny shook her head. "It was pretty obvious after Fred came back inside. He looked just as upset as you had and Mum asked him what had happened. She said she had heard shouting, but he wouldn't talk about it."

"Okay, but this still isn't explaining how you found out where I live," Cassie said.

"I'm getting to that," Ginny answered impatiently. "Mum insisted on making tea for everyone and George dragged Fred outside to get him to talk. I'm guessing Fred told him what happened, so don't be surprised if George knows the whole story."

Cassie nodded. That was expected. She felt slightly uneasy about George finding out about what she had told Fred, but it wasn't like she had told him not to tell anyone. She doubted he would tell anyone besides George anyway.

"So while they were outside and everyone was busy, I managed to sneak over to Fred and George's flat," Ginny continued. "Fred said something a while ago about a napkin with your name and address on it and I-,"

"Wait," Cassie interrupted, putting the pieces together. "Are you saying Fred still has the napkin?"

"If he didn't, I wouldn't be standing here in front of you," Ginny shrugged. "It was in the drawer of his nightstand. I memorized the address so that I could come over today."

"Why would he keep it?" Cassie asked.

Ginny shrugged again. "He might not have had time to throw it away, or maybe it's because he really likes you." She looked at Cassie and raised her eyebrows.

Cassie sighed. "I know he does, and I really like him too, but we just got into an argument. I've been meaning to go over all day and visit him so we can talk, but-,"

"—but you're procrastinating." Ginny crossed her arms and smirked.

"I'm not," Cassie answered defiantly.

"You are," Ginny argued. "It's okay. Fred's been doing the same thing. Well, sort of. I stopped by the shop this morning to talk to Fred and see if I could find out any more about what's going on. They're both working, but Fred's distracted. He clearly wants to see you, but he has the shop to run and-,"

"Did he tell you that?" Cassie asked, still feeling slightly stubborn and angry about the whole situation. "Did he tell you he wanted to see me?"

"No, but it was written all over his face," Ginny answered exasperatedly. "George agrees with me. He said Fred hasn't been himself all day. He definitely wants to see you."

"Well why doesn't he? After work I mean," Cassie replied. She was still being stubborn.

Ginny shook her head and grinned. "I think _you_ should go see him. Right now. Both of you need to swallow your pride and talk this out. If you go now you can get it over with."

"I can't talk to him when he's working," Cassie argued.

"He'll be going on break in," Ginny glanced at her watch, "five minutes." She grinned wryly.

"You certainly gave this a lot of thought," Cassie said, narrowing her eyes.

"Maybe I did, but you'll thank me when it's all over."

"I hope you're right," Cassie answered, smiling slightly.

"I know I'm right. It'll all work out. Now, go."

Cassie huffed in frustration as Ginny shooed her out of her own house. Once outside, Cassie shot one last glance at the smug looking redhead. "Ginny?"

"Yes?" she sighed impatiently.

"Thanks. In advance. You know, in case you are right about everything."

"You're welcome in advance," Ginny smiled.

Cassie took a deep breath before turning on the spot and disapparating and appearing seconds later right outside Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. "Here goes nothing," she whispered under her breath.

With her heart pounding, she stepped inside. The bell above the door jingled, announcing her entrance. Cassie felt herself cringe, despite the fact that it was loud inside the shop and the jingling bell would most likely go unnoticed.

Cassie made her way through the crowded room, glancing left and right for any sign of Fred. She couldn't see him or George anywhere, but Verity was working the register.

"Do you know where Fred is?" Cassie asked once she had reached the counter. She stood on the side, out of the way of customers and watched as Verity handed a customer a bag full of prank items.

"Cassie!" Verity exclaimed, looking surprised. "Yeah, he's in the back room with George. You can go right in. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you."

"Thanks," Cassie said quietly. She turned and held out a hand to push back the orange curtain that separated the back room from the rest of the shop, but she hesitated. She didn't know why she was so scared, but she figured it was just best to get it over with now.

Once she had pulled back the curtain, her eyes were drawn to Fred immediately, as if they were metal and he was the magnet. He had has back to her and was standing at the table in the middle of the room, his palms resting flat on the rough and slightly burned wood as he leaned on his hands, looking down at the many papers spread across the tabletop. George was on the opposite side of the table. A chair was positioned behind him, but he wasn't using it. He had a quill in his hands and he was scribbling things out on various papers as he rubbed a hand over his face.

Cassie bit her lip, trying to decide on the best way to let them know she was there, but in the end she didn't have to. George glanced up and did a double take when he saw her. His eyes went wide and a smile spread slowly over his face.

"George," Fred snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face. "Can we focus here? We're never going to get it right if you space out like that. I know I have no right to say that after today, but I'm focusing now and it's about time you did too."

George didn't say anything. He just simply shook his head. Cassie had the sudden urge to laugh. She might have, too, if her stomach hadn't already been in a nervous knot.

Finally, Fred stopped his rant and turned to follow George's gaze. His expression remained unreadable, but Cassie noticed the quiet, sharp intake of breath he took as well as the way his eyes widened slightly. She cleared her throat. "Ginny said you were going on your break soon. I was wondering if we could talk." She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Um," Fred answered, taking a bigger breath this time and letting it out as he glanced at George.

"Go ahead," George said, glancing at his watch. "It is break time after all. Good thing Cassie showed up or we might have worked right through it." He gave Cassie a grin and a wink, making Cassie feel that maybe everything might work out after all. If George seemed positive, then maybe her relationship with Fred could be saved. It would mean Fred wasn't too angry with her. She smiled back tentatively as George headed up the stairs to the flat with a last look over his shoulder.

Cassie turned her gaze back to Fred, who was turning to look at her at the same time. He was leaning sideways against the table now, leaning on one palm instead of two.

"I—well—I came to—I wanted-," Cassie stuttered. She felt herself blush. This wasn't starting off very well.

"What are you trying to say?" Fred asked. His tone sounded amused, but only very slightly.

All of a sudden, Cassie decided to forget about words and explaining. For now, all of that could go out the window. She had only been stuttering anyway and that wasn't going to do her any good. Without really thinking it through, she took a different approach. She flung herself at Fred, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him with everything she had.

His arms were around her waist and he staggered backwards into the table. Cassie heard the clink of glass as a few bottles tipped. "I hope those aren't important," she whispered, pulling back slightly.

"It's okay, they didn't break," Fred answered quickly and breathlessly, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder.

Cassie took a breath and slowly stepped away from him. Well, she tried to. She couldn't go anywhere because Fred wouldn't let her. His arms were still locked around her waist and he was looking at her with wide eyes. She still couldn't read his expression and that made her nervous. She hadn't considered that her actions would make things worse; she actually hadn't considered much at all, but it was already done. Now all she could do was wait for Fred's reaction.

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><p><strong>AN: For some reason, it took me forever to write this. It was a combination of being busy and the chapter itself not really wanting to cooperate. But anyway, here it is. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	22. Chapter 22

_"You put your arms around me and I'm home." -**Arms (Christina Perri)**_

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><p>It seemed like hours had ticked by instead of seconds since Cassie had run at Fred and kissed him. He still hadn't said anything, so Cassie decided to break the silence.<p>

"I probably shouldn't have done that," she said, blushing fiercely. She was beginning to realize how irrational she had just been. Why had she even done it? "It was an impulse and I didn't think, I just acted-,"

"Welcome to the club," Fred said seriously. A small half smile played across his lips. Cassie's shoulders slumped a little. "That's what I wanted to talk about. I know that what you said last night was just on an impulse to make me feel better. I thought about it last night and today and I realize that I might have overreacted, but-,"

"Maybe just a little," Fred said, his smile widening a little more before fading once again. "I do know why you got upset, though. It's a very difficult subject to talk about and I want you to know that I don't think it's funny in the least."

"I know that. I knew it last night too, but I was just so…overcome, I suppose, by the memories that I just kind of freaked out a little. I'm sorry."

"I am, too," Fred said, gingerly touching her cheek with his finger. "I already told you I didn't mean to say what I said. It just slipped out, I didn't think and I'm so sorry. I wasn't trying to make it seem like a joke or even _make_ a joke about it. How can you even think I would do that? How can you say I don't understand?" He sounded slightly hurt and that made Cassie feel terrible.

"I said you didn't understand because you've never had to go through that."

"Maybe not," he said slowly, "but I came close."

"What?" Cassie asked.

Fred let go of her waist and grabbed onto both of her hands. He relaxed against the table and looked down at their hands. "Just before Christmas of my seventh year, my dad was attacked by Voldemort's snake. He was working a night shift at the Ministry and the snake got him."

"Oh no," Cassie gasped.

Fred nodded. "He was rushed to St. Mungo's and Ginny, Ron, George, Harry and I had to wait at Harry's godfather's house for our Mum to sort things out. We didn't know anything until early the next morning. We were all scared we were going to lose him. Besides that, two years later, we were being watched. My family is a big blood traitor family, so the Ministry was tracking us. It was like walking on eggshells."

"Oh, Fred," Cassie whispered. "That's terrible. I didn't know." She squeezed his hand, but he wasn't finished.

"Then George got his ear blown off. I can remember running into the Burrow and seeing him on the couch with blood covering half of his face. I didn't know anything at first besides that George was hurt. He's my best friend, Cass. George to me is what Emmy was to you and I thought I was going to lose him."

"Only you'll always be friends forever. No fights. And most importantly, you didn't fight with him before he got hurt. Did you?"

"No," Fred whispered, "we didn't fight before he got hurt, but we do get into fights. Rarely, but we do. It doesn't matter, though. That night was one of the nights when I was the most scared I've ever been. But like you said, we'll be friends forever. At least I hope so." A small grin flickered across his lips.

"You will be," Cassie assured him. "I just know it. Your relationship is too strong for anything to pull you apart."

Fred nodded. "Anyway, I can understand what you went through and it really isn't funny at all."

"The war affected all of us," Cassie whispered. "It left scars on everyone, but not all of them can be seen."

"Exactly," Fred said.

"So you'll forgive me?" Cassie asked.

"That depends," Fred responded.

"On what?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"It depends on if _you'll_ forgive _me_," he answered, a grin finally spreading over his face.

Cassie let out a sigh of relief. "Of course I will." She threw her arms around him again and hugged him tightly. "You smell like burning wood," she commented.

"Yeah, George and I made a nice new addition to this table today," Fred said, pulling away and gesturing to a large, new-looking, burn mark.

"Better the table then your face," Cassie shrugged.

"True," Fred answered.

"So, what's this I hear from Ginny that you still have the napkin with my name and address?" she teased.

"What? How do you-? How did she-?"

"You have a very clever little sister," Cassie laughed.

"Evil is more like it," Fred mumbled. "She went through my stuff."

"Only to help us out. You should be thanking her."

"Is it all clear down here?" George's voice called from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah," Fred called back, his tone much happier than it had been all day.

"Did you tell him?" Cassie asked. "Did you tell him what I told you last night?"

"Not in detail," Fred whispered back. "I just said you lost a friend in the war. Lots of people did, and you never said not to so I didn't think it would be a big deal. I'm just so used to telling him everything."

"No, it's okay. I trust you both. I don't mind that you told him. I just wanted to know."

Fred only had time to nod before George reached the bottom of the steps. He was carrying three plates with a sandwich on each. Two were in his hands and one was balanced in the crook of his arm. "Since you weren't able to go on your break, Fred, I brought your break to you."

"You brought me _two_ sandwiches?" Fred joked. "You're the best brother ever!"

"No, you only get one. I made one for Cassie, too."

"Thank you. You didn't have to." Cassie took the plate balanced on George's arm and smiled.

"Well, it would be rude if I didn't," George said with a small smile. He looked tentatively between Cassie and Fred, who just stood there, looking back at him. "So, did you two sort everything out?"

"We did," Fred answered, grinning.

"That's a relief," George sighed. "I'm sorry to say this, Cassie, but Fred was a mess today all because of that argument."

"I heard," Cassie replied. "Ginny told me you missed me." She nudged Fred and grinned.

"Well from the way you were kissing me not too long ago, I'd say you missed me too," Fred teased.

"Me? Miss you? Not a chance." Cassie sniffed and turned away, her nose in the air. She had to work to keep a smile off her face.

"How rude," Fred gasped. "I'll just take this back then." He reached over her shoulder and grabbed her sandwich.

"You can't take it _back,_" Cassie said, whirling around. "George gave it to me. Only he can actually take it back."

"Here George, take it back," Fred said, handing the sandwich to George, who grabbed it and took a bite.

"Delicious," he grinned, "if I do say so myself."

Cassie just rolled her eyes and laughed. Soon, the twins joined in.

"I'm glad we're okay again," she said, looking at Fred once they had stopped laughing.

"Me too," he answered, brushing a piece of hair away from her face.

"Me three," George added, "and I hate to burst the romantic bubble surrounding you two, but Fred, you and I really need to get back to work."

"Do you mind if I hang around for a bit?" Cassie asked. "I swear I'll sit quietly and let you work."

"No, go right ahead," Fred answered.

"As long as you stick to your word and sit quietly," George added in a mock serious tone.

Cassie pretended to zip her lips as she walked to a beanbag chair in the corner. "Not a word."

Before sitting down, she grabbed a book off the bookshelf. She began to flip through it and noticed it was a book of wizard pranks. "Wizard pranks, huh?" she asked, holding the book up.

"Yeah," George said, glancing up at her before turning back to what he was doing. "Believe it or not, Percy gave that to us. He said he had noticed it in a bookshop and picked it up for us for Christmas."

"That was nice of him," Cassie said with a smile.

"It was the second Christmas where he and our family weren't speaking actually," Fred added, crossing the room to grab a few more bottles off of a shelf. "George and I were eighteen and Percy came to our house on Christmas day with the Minister and-,"

"You weren't speaking to your brother?" Cassie interrupted, her smile fading. She had heard a few rumors circulating during her last year of Hogwarts that Percy Weasley's relationship with his family was a bit rocky, but she hadn't known it had been that bad.

Fred shook his head. His eyes were on the cauldron which George was stirring. "We didn't speak for almost three years, but on the morning of this particular Christmas, George and I found a book lying in between our gift piles. I picked it up and it had both of our names on the tag, but there wasn't any signature."

"Since we weren't speaking to Percy, we didn't even consider it had been from him," George said, "and we didn't speak to him for another year and a half before he came back and apologized just in time to fight in the battle. When our family came to help fix up the shop, Percy was organizing our bookshelf and found the book on the floor. He had this weird look on his face, remember, Fred?" He began moving papers out of his way as he looked for something.

"Yeah," Fred said with a small laugh, handing George what he had apparently been looking for, which was a paper with scribbled measurements all over it. "We asked him what was wrong and he just shook his head until he could finally talk and then he told us that he had sent it to us after he had seen it in the bookshop. It had made him think of us and he just had to buy it even though we weren't speaking. He said that he figured as accustomed as we were with pranks, we couldn't possibly know every prank in the book. He was right of course."

"That was the Christmas he had stopped by with the Minister, like we said," George added. "The Minister clearly wanted to talk to Harry and we thought Percy was just helping him do that, using the excuse that he wanted to see the family. Fred and I flung mashed parsnips at him. We didn't even think that he might have been feeling the least bit regretful."

"Were you the only ones he gave a gift to?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah," Fred nodded. "He said that he wanted to send gifts to the whole family, but the Ministry was getting really strict and things were getting dangerous. Plus, there was so much security that if our whole family had gotten anonymous gifts, Mum and Dad would have wanted to get them examined and eventually everyone would find out Percy sent them. He knew we were the only ones who wouldn't mention to anyone that we had received an anonymous gift."

"But what if it had been something dangerous?" Cassie asked.

"We had this feeling," George answered. "We didn't think it had come from anyone evil, but we definitely never suspected it was from Percy."

Cassie didn't say anything as she processed what she had just heard.

"Hey, Fred," George said thoughtfully. He looked up and caught Fred's eye. "When you were looking for that information from the Ministry," he glanced at Cassie, "why didn't you go to Percy?"

Fred's eyes widened. "I didn't even think of it. I probably subconsciously figured he wouldn't do it or he would mention it to dad. And then everything kind of worked out when I went to see Hermione anyway so I didn't have any reason to think of new options."

"What are you-?" Cassie began, but Fred's face turned bright red and George interrupted her.

"Where did that bottle go? Has anyone seen it? It's clear and about this tall. It's filled with pepper." He demonstrated with his hands.

Cassie pursed her lips, but took the hint that whatever they had been discussing, they didn't want her to know. "Is that it?" she asked, pointing to a small bottle lying on its side under a few papers. Her position on the beanbag made her almost level with the table, making it easier to see the hidden bottle.

George moved the papers aside. "That's it," he said, picking it up and shaking it over the cauldron a few times.

"Pepper?" Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's a new candy we're working on," Fred said. "It's the one that I wouldn't tell you about when you asked. They're called Sneezing Sweets. They make you sneeze non-stop until you've finished the candy or taken it out of your mouth."

"But the great thing is," George continued, "that the candy won't melt completely for another two minutes, which is a long time to consistently sneeze, so unless you manage to take it out, you'll be sneezing for a while. We're also going to make Coughing Candies, which do the same thing, but with coughing. They're products that kind of run parallel with or Skiving Snackboxes in the sense that they can be used when you want to fake sick."

"Wow, that's really brilliant," Cassie said in awe.

"We know," the twins said together, with identical grins.

"But they're a real pain to make," George said, gritting his teeth and running a hand through his hair.

"Can I help?" Cassie asked.

"Ah, but you promised that you sit quietly," George said. "So far, you've only managed to hold up on the sitting end of the bargain."

"Hey, you were the ones doing most of the talking while you were telling me all about Percy."

"You asked about the book," Fred said.

"Fred, don't take George's side!" Cassie complained with a laugh as Fred just shrugged. "So can I?" she asked.

"Can you what?" Fred smirked, showing that he knew what she wanted, but he was just teasing her.

"You know full well what," Cassie answered.

Fred and George shared a look. "You might as well make yourself useful," George finally said with a grin.

Cassie quickly jumped up and returned the prank book to the shelf before running to join the twins.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

Fred handed her a piece of paper. "We were trying to figure out this formula earlier, but we couldn't for the life of us."

"So we made the potion up until that formula would come into play, which is now," George continued.

"The potion has to sit for half an hour," Fred added, "and after that we're going to need to know the next set of measurements."

"Which is where you come in," George said.

Cassie skimmed the paper Fred had handed her. "Okay, I can do it."

"Can you?" Fred asked happily.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll figure it out and then explain to you how so that you'll know for future reference."

Fred and George gave a small nod as Cassie picked up a quill and began scribbling away. She could feel the twins watching her, but she didn't mind in the least.

"You inspired these," Fred said after a while. When Cassie looked up, he sent her a smile that sent shivers down her spine.

"Me?" she asked. "How could I possibly have inspired that?"

"Well, technically, Josh did," Fred answered. "It was that night in Hogsmeade when you had gone to Zonko's and I snuck Josh the Ton-Tongue Toffee. I jinxed him to start coughing so that he would be more willing to take the toffee."

"So Josh inspired it, not me," Cassie said.

"Well, I only jinxed him because he annoyed me and I didn't like how he was treating you. If I hadn't cared so much about how you were being treated, I might not have done it. So I guess you both inspired it," Fred shrugged.

"Do you think he would be proud that he inspired a joke product?" George asked as he attempted to organize the work table.

"Not at all," Cassie answered, lowering her eyes back to the paper in front of her. "He'd probably be mortified that he was the cause of such an 'immature and dangerous' product being created." She rolled her eyes as the twins laughed.

"Well then we'll have to spare him the news," Fred said after a moment.

"Trust me, that won't be a problem. I'm not planning on seeing him ever again," Cassie said, crossing out a few numbers on the paper with a little too much pressure.

"Take it easy, Cass," Fred chuckled, putting his hand over hers.

"Sorry," she whispered with a slight smile.

After a few minutes, she had managed to figure out the formula. Fred and George were clearly relieved.

"You should come visit us at work more often," George said, scanning her work.

"I wouldn't mind that," Cassie said, smiling at Fred and giving him a nudge with her elbow.

"Not so you can see my brother," George said seriously, "but so we can put you to work figuring out all the little snags we hit when we're dealing with the formulas and measurements."

"Ah, I see," Cassie said with a smirk.

"But don't worry," Fred added, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her cheek. "I'm sure we'll be able to give you something as thanks for all your hard work."

"Correction," George added, clearing his throat. "You will."

"You can count on that," Fred said, reaching for a crumpled paper and throwing it at George, who ducked out of the way.

"If I do decide to hang around here and help you when you need it," Cassie said in a mock businesslike tone, "then I think George should have to provide the food at break time."

"Why me?" George asked. "I mean, I did it today out of the goodness of my heart." He dramatically placed one hand on his chest, right over his heart.

"Stop being so dramatic," Fred snorted.

"You should do it, George," Cassie said, trying to keep a straight face, "because we already know what Fred's going to be doing."

"No fair," George cried. "He's the one dating you."

Cassie laughed. "I'm only kidding. I don't mind giving you help when you need it."

"Admit it, though," Fred said, his arms still wrapped around her, "no matter what George says, you'll really be coming over to see me."

"Of course, but don't tell George. He might get jealous and take back my gift basket." She and Fred laughed at their little inside joke. George narrowed his eyes, but he was obviously trying to contain himself as well.

"You laugh," he said, "but you never know. I just might take it back."

Cassie stuck her tongue out at him. She couldn't have been happier that things were settled now between her and Fred. She actually felt like she belonged with him and she rather liked the feeling.


	23. Chapter 23

_"And I'll spend the rest of my life explaining what words cannot describe, but I'll try. I love you this big." **-**_**I Love You This Big (Scotty McCreery)**

* * *

><p>Fred fiddled with his wand, tapping it against the palm of his hand. He didn't exactly need it for anything at the moment, but he needed something to do while he nervously waited for Cassie to open the door.<p>

The remainder of summer and the entire season of fall had seemed to fly by. It was the middle of winter now. To be exact, it was a few days before Christmas and the day Cassie's book had hit the shelves. Fred was taking Cassie out to Hogsmeade to celebrate. Now if she would only answer the door. Fred could practically feel his nose turning into an icicle.

Finally, the door opened and Cassie stood there, grinning and putting in an earring. "Hi," she said.

"Hey," Fred said quietly, blinking a few times as he took in the girl standing in front of him. She was wearing a sleeveless, knee length midnight blue dress that flared out slightly at the waist. Fred had bought it himself and if he had thought it looked incredible on the hanger, it was nothing compared to how it looked on Cassie. It looked a million times better than the dress Josh had bought for her, if Fred did say so himself. In fact, he had seen to it that she didn't even own that dress anymore. He had tried to pass it off as an accident that the dress that had gone from hanging neatly in her closet to laying on the ground outside, in flames.

"Are you going to come in or are you comfortable out in the cold?" Cassie finally asked with a smile.

"Right, sorry," Fred said quickly, stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. He kept his eyes locked onto Cassie's the whole time.

She finished putting in her earring and gave her shoulders a small shrug. "Well, hi," she said quietly with a nervous half smile.

"I believe you've already said that," Fred replied in a whisper, stepping closer to her.

"Have I?" she answered, her voice still quiet.

"Mhm," Fred nodded, stepping closer still. Cassie took a small step backwards and bumped into the wall, which forced her to come to an abrupt stop.

"Caught you," Fred said, resting his palms against the wall just above Cassie's head.

"Who said I was running?" she asked with a smirk.

Fred smirked back. He loved when she teased him like that. While she was generally a fun person who loved to make jokes, she wasn't one to just constantly throw them around as much as Fred and George did. She could have quite the serious side when she wanted to.

"So you still don't want to run away even though you know that George and I have a big tendency to blow things up?" he teased back.

She shook her head and bit her lip to try and contain her smile. It wasn't working, though and it made Fred's smirk widen. "Nope," she answered.

"You can't say you weren't given fair warning, then," Fred shrugged.

"I'm prepared to take a chance," she answered, raising an eyebrow.

"Risk taking," Fred whispered. "I like it."

"I thought you might," she whispered back.

Fred grinned and leaned in to give her a gentle kiss. "We'd better get going," he mumbled against her lips.

She sighed and gave him another quick peck before pulling away and ducking under his arms so that she was no longer trapped against the wall. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed.

"Unless you'd rather stay here," Fred answered, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"No, we're going out," she insisted. "You bought me this beautiful dress and I'm not about to let it go to waste."

"It's not wasted. I'm seeing you in it. Maybe I don't want anyone else to see you in it."

"Ah, well you know I only have eyes for you," Cassie said with a smile. "So, come on." She opened the door and stood there excitedly.

Fred grinned and walked over to her, his hands in his pockets.

"What?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing, I'm just happy to see you so excited," he answered, taking one hand out of his pocket and interlacing his fingers with hers.

Cassie didn't answer. She just smiled wider as she gave Fred's hand a squeeze.

"Come on," Fred whispered, jerking his head towards the door and smiling. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Their date was the best one Cassie had been on in her entire life. It was ten times better than the ones Josh actually did take her on, she realized, because she truly enjoyed herself one hundred percent. They didn't do much except go to dinner and walk through Hogsmeade, but Cassie still thought it was amazing.<p>

"Are you ready to go?" Fred asked once they had reached the beginning of the path leading to Hogwarts.

Cassie looked down the path before looking back at Fred and smiling. "There's just one more thing I want to do."

"What's that?" Fred asked curiously as she began to quickly lead him down the pathway. "Are you sure you want to come down here?"

Cassie rolled her eyes at him over her shoulder. "Fred, I'm not forever hurt by what happened down here. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me, actually. I'm so much happier without Josh and it was down here where I finally got rid of him."

"Okay," Fred said slowly as they reached their destination, right in front of the Hogwarts gates. They slowed down and approached the gates. "So, I still don't understand why you wanted to come back here."

"I think it's romantic, being able to look up at Hogwarts, looking as beautiful as ever lit up against the sky. Don't you think so?"

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "So, I guess Josh picked out a good spot." He looked down at the ground and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"He did," Cassie said. She saw Fred's frown deepen even though he was looking at the ground. "But," she reached out and lifted his chin so that he was looking at her. "I didn't want to marry him and I never will want to marry him. I want to be with you and I brought you down here so we can have a memory here together. Just us."

That got Fred's attention and he blinked and smirked. "Are _you_ trying to propose to _me_?"

Cassie's eyes widened before she laughed. "No, no, I wasn't. Sorry. I do have something for you though. _That_ is why I wanted to come here." She reached into her bag and pulled out a gift wrapped object before handing it to Fred. "Merry Christmas."

"What is it?" Fred asked, taking it from her.

"Well, if I told you, then that would defeat the purpose of giving you a gift. It's supposed to be a surprise until you actually open it."

"Christmas isn't for a few more days, though," Fred said.

"Are you saying you don't want to open it?" Cassie teased.

"No, of course, but it's just my mum never let us open gifts early, no matter how much we begged."

"Well, that's because people do traditionally open Christmas gifts on Christmas," Cassie joked, "but I just couldn't wait to give you this any longer because there might be a chance that if I waited, you would go out and by one yourself."

"Aha, a clue!" Fred exclaimed. "Give me another one!"

"No, I've already said too much and why would you ask for clues when you can just _open _the gift!"

"Fine, fine," Fred said, holding up his hands in defeat. He tore open the wrapping paper and Cassie saw his face dissolve into a smile as he saw what lay inside.

"A copy of your book," he whispered, staring down at the cover.

"Inspired by you," she told him. She moved to stand next to him and they looked down at it together. Fred traced his fingers over Cassie's name, written on the front cover in gold.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I can't wait to read it."

"Open it," she said.

"Well, I'm not going to read it now," he said, looking confused.

"I'm not telling you too. I just want you to open it."

Fred did as she said and Cassie looked up at his face so that she could take in his reaction when he saw the very first page. She watched his eyes widen and she heard him let out a quiet gasp.

"'Dedicated to Fred Weasley,'" he read in a whisper. "'for influencing this book and for proving to me that fate truly exists.'"

"I did tell you I would dedicate it to you," Cassie said with a smile.

"I didn't actually—I wasn't serious when I said that," Fred said, looking down at her.

"Well I wanted to dedicate it to you anyway. I mean, who else would I dedicate it to?"

Fred gave a small shrug.

"That's what I thought," Cassie whispered.

"Cassie, thank you so much," he whispered back, pulling her into a hug. "I really appreciate it and I've never had a book dedicated to me before."

"George will be jealous," she said into his chest.

"Percy will be more jealous than George will, I think."

"Maybe I'll have to dedicate my next book to him, then," she said.

Fred laughed and pulled away, tilting Cassie's chin up and leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. "Cassie," he whispered, "I have to tell you something."

"What's that?" she asked, tilting her head. She noticed he looked sort of nervous.

He inhaled and then blurted out his next words in a rush of breath, but Cassie heard him just fine and she thought her heart might have stopped for a second.

"I think I might be in love with you."


	24. Chapter 24

"_You found me when no one else was looking. How did you know just where I would be? You broke through all of my confusion, the ups and the downs and you still didn't leave. I guess that you saw what nobody could see." __**–You Found Me (Kelly Clarkson)**_

* * *

><p>Cassie felt her mouth drop open and her breath catch in her throat. "You what?"<p>

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you. I didn't know if it was the right time, but I had to say it," Fred said quickly. "I didn't want to keep it in anymore."

"You love me?" Cassie asked. She was having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Fred Weasley had just said he loved her. Only a few years ago she would have never thought it was possible.

Fred nodded. "Well, yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. I just know that what I feel for you is different than what I've ever felt for any other girl. It's so much stronger and I know the way we met and got together was a little strange, but like I said before, I was drawn to you for some reason that day in the shop and maybe it _was_ fate that got me to notice you. I don't know and I don't really care. All I know is that you're so unique and special and I might look stupid right now, but-,"

Cassie didn't let him finish him rambling. Instead, she stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his lips. "Fred," she whispered, pulling away slightly.

"Mm?" he managed to breathe out.

"Shut up," she whispered.

He let out a small chuckle. "I was rambling. Sorry about that."

"I needed you to shut up so that I could say I love you too."

"You do?" he asked, blinking happily and pulling away to look down at her in surprise.

She nodded, a smile lifting up her lips. "It must be love if it managed to survive, if not grow after all these years, even though it was just, I don't know, buried, while I was with Josh. And everything you just described is exactly how I feel."

"Yeah?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," Cassie said with a small laugh. She couldn't believe this was actually happening.

Fred grinned and let out a loud whoop, turning in a happy circle as Cassie laughed. She watched as he ran to the Hogwarts gates. He hopped on the rung that ran across the bottom, grabbed the bars, pressed his face to the gap between them and yelled. "She loves me!"

"Who are you hoping or expecting will hear you?" Cassie asked as Fred jumped off the gate and walked back to her.

"I'm hoping everyone hears me, but I'm not expecting anyone to," he answered with a smile and a shrug. "It's their loss, I guess."

"You do know you're a nutcase, don't you?" she laughed, reaching up and sliding his knit hat down over his eyes.

"So I've been told," he said, peeling the hat away from his face and looking down at her with a grin.

"As long as you know," she said, reaching up to take his hand.

Fred brought her back home and they stopped on her doorstep. Cassie felt goose bumps up and down her arms that had nothing to do with the cold as Fred brought a hand to her cheek and rubbed his thumb back and forth over the skin there. "I had a great time tonight," he said, "and thank you for this." He held up the book.

"Don't mention it," she answered.

"I still have to give you your gift," Fred said with a smile.

"Oh, you didn't have to-,"

"Of course I had to and I did, so just be quiet," he teased, putting a finger over her lips. She fell silent and looked back at him.

"Why did you-?"

"Ah," Fred cut her off, putting his finger back over her mouth. "No talking."

"But I just-,"

"No, just let me give you the gift first."

"Fine," she whined.

"Good," he answered. "I thought I was going to have to kiss you to get you to shut up."

"In that case, I might just keep talking," Cassie said slyly.

"No," Fred insisted. "We can't get distracted. Now, I wasn't planning on giving you your gift today. I was going to wait until Christmas actually got here, but I think it's only fair to give it to you now since you gave me mine. Anyway, my point is that I'll have to go back to my flat to get it."

"Okay," Cassie said, "but you don't have to do this. You can just wait until Christmas. Just because I gave you your gift doesn't mean you have to give me mine."

"I want to," Fred argued. "Just promise me you'll wait right here."

"How about inside?" Cassie asked. "You know, where it's warm."

"That works too," Fred agreed. He shooed her through the door and Apparated away. Cassie laughed, shook her head, and closed the door all the way. Immediately, she got to work. She lit a fire in the fireplace before heading to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. Just as she was sprinkling marshmallows on top, she heard a knock on the door. She smiled to herself and smoothed down the front of her dress nervously, even though she had just seen Fred about five minutes ago.

There was another knock on the door as she hurried to answer it. It was more urgent this time and Cassie smiled at Fred's impatience. "Coming," she called. She quickly unlocked the door and swung it open. Her mouth promptly dropped in surprise. It wasn't Fred standing at the door, but Josh.

"Hi," he said quietly, a nervous half smile on his face.

Cassie made to slam the door in his face, but Josh put out a hand and stopped it. "Wait, just listen to me for a second."

"Why should I?" she asked icily.

Josh actually paused and Cassie tried to shut the door again, but Josh stopped her once more. "Wait, please."

Cassie took a moment to actually look at him. He looked awful. He was clearly exhausted and the urgency for her to listen was written all over his face.

"Fine, but Fred's coming back any minute. Just say what you need to say and get it over with."

Josh looked over his shoulder as if he expected Fred to be standing there. Then, he took a huge breath and rambled on. "I bought this today." He moved his hand from behind his back that Cassie hadn't even known he was holding there and held up her book; the book he had almost passed off as his own.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because it's good," he said. "I bought it this morning and read it in one day."

"You mean you didn't read it when you stole it?" She sent him a glare.

Josh blushed. "I read some of it, but it of course wasn't finished. I was just angry. That's why I took it."

"That's no excuse," she snapped. "It didn't give you the right to take it. And besides that, you tried to pass it off as your own. Stealing it was one thing, but that…" she trailed off and shook her head.

"I know. It was really low," Josh mumbled. "I just didn't want to lose you to Fred. He had always been more popular than me. Did you ever think maybe that's why I worked so hard?" He looked up at her and Cassie bit her lip.

"What was the point, though? I mean, after we left school, it seemed pretty likely that I wouldn't see Fred again."

"I knew you liked him and I thought you would try to find him again. I was really paranoid that I wasn't good enough so I pushed myself to work harder. It didn't do any good, though. You found him anyway." He scowled.

"Josh," Cassie said warningly. She let out a sigh. "You didn't know how to balance work with being a boyfriend. When you were working, you were neglecting me."

"Anyway," Josh said loudly, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Your book is brilliant. Except for the dedication page, of course."

"Josh, stop it," Cassie snapped. "Get over it, please."

"I can't believe you left me for him," he said.

"Go home," she ordered. The last thing she wanted was trouble if Fred came back to see Josh here. As it was, Josh was already stressing her out.

"Fine," he answered. He turned to leave, but looked over his shoulder at her. "I've always thought you were a wonderful writer, but this book just needs one tiny correction." He flipped it open to the dedication page and ripped it out. Cassie cringed at the sound of the ripping paper and flinched when he crumpled it up and tossed it at her. With a cry of frustration, she picked it up and flung it back, but Josh Disapparated just in time and the paper sailed through the air right where his head had been.

Cassie stepped back inside, slammed the door, and leaned against it, breathing heavily with her fists clenched. There was a pop in the yard and footsteps approaching the door. This time it had to be Fred. When he knocked, Cassie paused before opening the door. She tried to fix her expression to look like nothing had just happened.

"Alright," Fred said breathlessly, stepping into the house, "I got it and now—what's wrong?"

Cassie bit her lip. Apparently, she hadn't done such a good job of disguising her expression. She didn't want to lie and say she was fine, either. It wasn't right, and Fred would be able to tell. He was good at that.

Fred walked to the coffee table and put her gift down. "Come here," he said, sitting on the couch and patting the seat next to him.

Cassie did as he said and sat down, pulling her legs up and resting them to the side as she leaned against Fred's shoulder. She began playing nervously with the zipper of his jacket.

"Cassie, I can tell you're upset about something. What happened while I was gone?" he asked.

She finally looked up into his blue eyes, which were looking back at her in worry. "Josh stopped by," she whispered.

Fred's expression immediately turned to one of anger. "What?" he growled. "What did he want?"

"I think he was trying to compliment me. He bought my book this morning, read it and finished it. Apparently he didn't really read the whole thing when he took it. Anyway, he said it was good except for the dedication page-,"

Fred let out another noise in between a grunt and a growl, but he didn't say anything so Cassie continued.

"Then, he started complaining about me and you being together and tried to get me to feel sorry for him by saying he worked so hard because he didn't want to lose me to you, but all he really did by doing that was push me away."

"Jerk," Fred muttered. "He deserved what he got. He deserved to lose his job and you."

Cassie looked into the fire and took another breath. "He had a copy of the book with him and he ripped out the dedication page and threw it at me."

"He didn't," Fred gasped.

"I tried to throw it back, but he left before it could hit him."

"If I had gotten back a second earlier-," Fred started.

"No, I wanted him to leave before you got here. The last thing I want is trouble or another fight, but I think he's done visiting me now."

"How do you know?"

"He won't have a reason to. The only reason he came tonight was because he was upset about the book and the fact that I dedicated it to you."

"Even still," Fred sighed, pulling off his hat and tossing it on the arm of the couch next to him. He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't like him."

"I know," Cassie whispered, "but I don't want you to be getting into fights with him over me. I've had quite enough of that. I mean, you fought on the day he proposed to me, and when you first came to my house when you found the napkin, he gave you a bloody nose."

Fred nodded, but didn't say anything for a few seconds as he calmed down. "Well, here's your gift," he said, reaching forward and grabbing it off the table. "Open it."

Cassie nodded, thankful for the change of subject, and took the flat package from him. "What is it?" she asked with a smirk.

Fred chuckled and nudged her. "Just open it and you'll see," he whispered.

She smiled and pulled on the end of the ribbon, causing it to untie and fall across her knees. Next, she pulled apart the paper and let out a small squeak of surprise when she saw what was inside. It was a small frame but instead of a picture, Fred had put the napkin inside and right below the napkin was the half blue Sickle. "Fred," she breathed out.

"Do you like it?" he asked excitedly.

"Like it? I love it," she answered.

"The napkin was really dirty, so I did my best to clean it off. I was never too good with those cleaning spells, but I did manage to get a lot of the dirt off. I smoothed it out the best I could, too so it would look okay."

"This is amazing, but where did you get the Sickle? I mean, I had it with me."

"I might have taken it," Fred mumbled, "but I needed it so I could put it in the frame, too. I mean, it only makes sense, right?"

"Yeah, it does," Cassie whispered, lightly touching the frame with her fingertips.

"Where do you want to hang it?" Fred asked.

Cassie looked around the room, her eyes wandering along the walls. "There," she said finally, pointing to a spot by the stairs. "That way, it'll be one of the first things I see when I walk in the door."

"Excellent," Fred said with a grin. He stood up, pulling her with him and together, they hung the frame up where Cassie had indicated.

"It's perfect," Cassie said as they stood back to admire their work, their arms around each other.

"I have to agree," Fred said, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"I've just remembered," Cassie gasped. "I made hot chocolate. It's probably cold now, though."

"No big deal," Fred shrugged. "We can just make more."

Ten minutes later, Cassie and Fred were snuggled back on the couch, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, a warm fire in front of them and Josh completely forgotten about. It was absolutely perfect.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I hope everyone likes the chapter! Don't forget to review! Also, I wrote a Ron/Hermione one shot for the Twin Exchange monthly Challenge so feel free to read it and vote for it on the 20th by going to the Twin Exchange profile. **


	25. Chapter 25

_"I'm forever yours, faithfully."—__**Faithfully (Journey)**_

* * *

><p>"George, can I ask you a favor?" Fred asked.<p>

"Yeah, anything," George asked. It was a few hours after they had closed the shop, but Fred and George had been in the back room, working on new products.

It was summer again and Fred knew that Cassie hadn't seen or heard from Josh since he had visited her that day just before Christmas. It was just as well because neither she nor Fred wanted to see him and they had both been happier with him completely out of the picture.

Fred absentmindedly stirred the cauldron sitting on the table. "Will you come shopping with me tomorrow?"

"Shopping?" George looked up from one of the beanbags on the floor, where he had been making a sketch of a possible new product. "Why, you can't pick out your own clothes anymore?" He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"It's not for me," Fred said quietly, lifting his eyes to meet George's. They stared at each other for a moment before George understood and jumped up, flinging his paper aside.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"Seriously," Fred nodded. "I want to ask her to marry me."

"Do you think it's too soon? For her, I mean."

"It's been a year," Fred said nervously, shrugging one shoulder. "I mean, she said her relationship with me is stronger than it ever was with Josh."

"Well, if you're sure she's ready."

"Yeah, I think she is," Fred nodded. "What do you think?"

"I don't think that's my assessment to make," George said. "You're the one dating her. If it feels right, then I say go for it. Does it feel right?"

"Yeah," Fred answered almost at once, "and I'm completely sure that I want to do this."

George nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?" Fred repeated.

"Yeah," George answered, nodding again. This time, he broke into a grin and pulled Fred into a hug. "Congratulations."

"I'm not married yet, Georgie. Not even engaged, for that matter."

"I know, but I want to be the first to say it. I had to get a head start."

Fred let out a small laugh. "So, tomorrow it is, then?"

"Tomorrow it is," George agreed.

* * *

><p>"Why are there so many to choose from?" Fred complained as he and George walked along the display of rings that seemed to have no end.<p>

"Who knows? Don't girls care about that sort of thing? You know, the shape and how shiny it is and all of that?"

Fred gave George a perplexed look. "But who cares?"

"Girls do," George sighed. "Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I will never fully understand girls."

"That makes two of us," Fred mumbled. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, pick a spot and start looking." George nudged Fred a little closer to the display.

A saleslady ended up helping Fred pick out a ring. It seemed so overwhelming at first, but by the time he left the shop, he had picked out a lovely ring that he was completely satisfied with and one that he was sure Cassie would love.

"So," George said as they entered their flat later on, "when do you plan on popping the question?"

"I was thinking next Friday night after work. I'll invite her over for dinner and-,"

"Are you going to cook for her?" George asked with a smirk.

Fred paused. "You know what? You're right. I'm a rubbish cook. Maybe I should take her out," Fred said.

"Nah, don't," George advised. "I think you should just stay in tomorrow. Cook something together or pick something up from the Three Broomsticks if you want, but I think you should stay in."

"Why do you say that?" Fred asked.

George shrugged. "I don't know, but Katie always loves to stay in rather than going out. She says it's more romantic, even if I don't know how to cook anything."

Fred nodded. "Okay, I'll do that, then."

George smiled. "I'll even make myself nonexistent for the night. Katie and I can have one of those said romantic evenings that she loves so much."

Fred laughed. "Speaking of Katie, when do you plan on asking her to marry you? You do want to marry her, right?"

George nodded. "Yeah, but I'll let you have your moment first."

"George, no," Fred said, stopping in the middle of the living room to look at his twin. He felt as if he had just ruined something for George. "If you want to propose to Katie, then you should. There would be nothing wrong with us having a double wedding."

"No, it's okay. You came up with the idea first. I haven't even bought a ring or-,"

"We were just at the ring shop, George," Fred said, tapping his brother's head.

"Fred, it's fine," George laughed. "I'm perfectly happy with waiting a little longer. Don't worry about it."

"Okay," Fred said after a moment.

"So, next Friday I'll go over to Katie's right from work," George said, "and then when I see you the next day, you'll be an engaged man. I don't believe it." He pretended to wipe tears from his eyes.

Fred laughed and hit George over the head with a rolled up newspaper lying on the table. "Well, believe it, because it's happening."

George smiled. "Are you nervous?"

"Not now, but I will be when the time comes."

"Hey, just think that once you do it, it'll be all over, even if she says no."

Fred felt his face paling. "But I don't want her to say no."

"If she does, I wouldn't worry," George said. "I'm sure you'll be able to find another girl who can put up with your scary face every day." He made a face before breaking into a grin.

"You look just like me!" Fred exclaimed.

"You're right. In that case, you're stunning."

"Even more stunning than you, I'd say," Fred joked.

"Didn't you just point out we look the same?" George asked. "But it doesn't matter because I'm still more handsome than you."

"Whatever makes you feel better about yourself, Georgie," Fred grinned before hitting his brother on the head with the newspaper once more and walking towards his bedroom. Just before he shut the door, he felt the newspaper collide with his head and heard George laughing and yelling "Score!"

* * *

><p>"Fred Weasley!" Cassie let out a yelp as Fred grabbed her shoulder from behind, startling her. She had been sitting in his flat, reading a book and waiting for the twins to finish work. She hadn't even heard anyone come in.<p>

Fred began to laugh at her reaction and she swatted his arm. "Sorry," he managed to choke out through his laughter. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not funny," Cassie protested, but she was laughing now as well. "Where's George?"

"He's going to Katie's for dinner," Fred answered. He took off his bright magenta work robes and tossed them over the arm of the couch before flinging himself down himself. He looked over at Cassie and smiled. "He'll be over there until at least early morning, so that means we have the flat all to ourselves tonight."

Cassie smirked. "Well, in that case…" she trailed off, put her book aside and stood up., her smirk widening. She jumped onto the couch and began tickling every bit of Fred she could reach.

"You're evil!" he cried through his laughter.

"I know," she said, laughing and trying to keep her balance as Fred frantically tossed and turned as he tried to get her off.

"Stop, stop," Fred finally said, sounding breathless. Cassie paused and Fred took the opportunity to grab her wrists. It was then that Cassie realized her mistake. She saw the glint of mischief in Fred's eyes, causing her own eyes to widen.

With a laugh, Fred sat up, gently pushing Cassie to the other end of the couch so that he was now straddling her instead of the other way around. "You're going to get it now!" he said. With that, he began to tickle her. He started with her stomach and Cassie squealed with laughter. When she tried to push his hands away, he moved to her neck, then her arms, then back to her stomach.

"Fred!" she gasped, still squealing with laughter. She squirmed around, trying to free herself, but it wasn't working. Fred was too strong. She did however finally manage to get him to lose his balance and they both tumbled off the couch. Fred instinctively reached out his hand and put it behind Cassie's head so that she wouldn't smack it against the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"No," she whimpered.

"What?" Fred asked, already beginning to roll off of her.

Cassie changed her expression at once, letting a grin spread over her face as she pushed Fred the rest of the way off of her and rolled on top of him. She began to tickle him again, laughing crazily.

"You—you-," Fred began, but he was laughing too hard to finish his sentence.

"You've been too much of an influence on me," Cassie laughed.

"I'll say," Fred gasped out before he managed to push her off of him again. They spent the next few minutes in that manner, each trying to fight off the other and reclaim the upper hand in their tickle fight.

Five minutes later, Fred had trapped Cassie under him again and she had her hands on his chest as she tried to push him off. Her hand hit the chest pocket of his shirt and something fell out and landed on her stomach. Fred froze and Cassie lifted her head to see what the object was. It was a small square box, but she didn't get to look any closer, because Fred snatched it back up and held it in his fist.

"What's that?" Cassie asked curiously.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later," Fred said quickly. He was still gasping for breath, but he wasn't meeting Cassie's eye.

"No, you can tell me," she said, laughing. "Does it have to do with a new prank product?"

"No," Fred said in a whisper.

"Then what is it?"

"I—it isn't the right time," Fred mumbled.

"Okay," Cassie said, giving up. Her smile faded. She wondered why it was such a secret.

Fred took a deep breath and rolled off of her. She sat up and looked at him. Finally, he lifted his head and returned her gaze. "Well, I guess I can tell you. Why not, right? You were going to find out anyway," he shrugged. "Mind you, this isn't how I planned on doing this, but…" he trailed off.

"Fred, just do it," Cassie said. "Whatever it is, just do it."

Taking a deep breath, Fred uncurled his fist and held the small box in the palm of his hand, turning so that he was facing her.

"What is it?" Cassie asked once again, raising an eyebrow.

Fred shifted onto one knee and pulled open the box, revealing a beautiful, shiny ring. "Marry me?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There's probably only going to be a few more chapters of this story after this one, which is sad because I've had a lot of fun writing it, but I originally was going to end this story back when Josh proposed, Cassie said no and then got together with Fred. I'm glad I didn't though, because I've really enjoyed writing all of the chapters after that. **

**Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed so far and don't be shy to review if you haven't yet or to review again if you already have :)**


	26. Chapter 26

_"Marry me, today and every day." -**Marry Me (Train)**_

* * *

><p>All Cassie could do was look at Fred with a dumbfounded and surprised expression on her face. "What?" she managed to breathe out.<p>

"I know this may seem kind of sudden, but I felt that we were both ready for this and, well, I love you, Cass, and after all it took for us to finally start dating, I don't think I want to lose you. I really want to marry you and I'm hoping that you feel the same, so will you marry me?" he asked.

"Marry you," Cassie repeated. She was still feeling breathless and as if her brain was taking forever to comprehend Fred's words.

"Yeah," Fred said. He sounded nervous. "I'm pretty sure the right guy is asking you this time," he said with a small smirk.

That made Cassie laugh. "Yes," she said, "it is the right guy." She reached out and lightly touched the edge of the open box as she peered at the ring. It was absolutely gorgeous.

"So is that a yes?" Fred asked.

"Hm?" Cassie replied.

"You can't touch the ring until you say you'll marry me, that is, if you do choose to say yes," he answered, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Well, in that case," Cassie said. She paused and bit her lip just to draw it out a little further and torture Fred a little more. "Yes."

"Yes? You mean it?" Fred asked, as both his eyes and smile widened.

"Yeah, I mean it," Cassie answered, laughing.

In his excitement, Fred accidentally squeezed the box a little too tight. The lid snapped shut and the box bounced out of his hand and onto the floor. Cassie tried to stifle her laughter as she picked it up and handed it to him.

"Sorry," Fred said quickly as he opened the box again and took out the ring. Cassie noticed his hands were shaking slightly. "Hold out your hand," he whispered.

She did as he said and it was then that she noticed her own trembling hands. "Stop shaking," she joked, nudging Fred's knee with her foot.

Fred snorted and grabbed her left hand in his. "You're shaking worse than I am, so I'd shut my mouth if I were you." He slid the ring onto her finger and they both fell silent as they stared at the glittering object now on Cassie's hand.

"Have you told your parents yet?" Cassie finally asked.

"No, only George knows," Fred answered.

"Of course," Cassie said with a small laugh. "That explains why he isn't here. You kicked him out for the night."

"I didn't kick him out," Fred said as he adjusted himself so that he was sitting next to Cassie, leaning up against the couch. "He basically volunteered to leave us here alone. He doesn't even mind because he gets to see Katie."

Cassie laughed and leaned over to give Fred a gentle kiss, resting her hand on his cheek. Fred sighed with content and Cassie smiled happily as she rested her head on his shoulder and intertwined their fingers. "So, how were you actually planning on proposing? I kind of messed it up for you."

"You didn't mess it up," Fred said. "You just unknowingly hurried it along." He smiled as Cassie laughed. "Anyway, I was going to cook dinner-,"

"Really?" Cassie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, actually we were going to cook together. I even made sure to stock up the fridge and cabinets."

"Ah, when did you plan on telling me this? And what would have happened if I didn't want to cook, hm? I very well might have said no." She smirked to show she was teasing.

"I could have convinced you," Fred answered, wiggling an eyebrow slightly and leaning closer.

"Is that right?" Cassie asked, determined to not give in to what she figured Fred wanted. She turned her head the other way so he couldn't reach any part of her face to kiss her.

"You seem to have forgotten that you just exposed your neck by doing that," Fred commented and Cassie then felt him lightly kissing the skin on her neck.

"Well, it's still not as good as my face," she sniffed, trying not to giggle.

"No, you're right, it isn't," Fred agreed as he stopped kissing her.

Assuming he had moved away, Cassie turned around again only to see that Fred hadn't moved at all. "Tricked you," he smirked.

"You wish," Cassie said, giving him a quick kiss. "I knew you were there the whole time."

"Liar," Fred laughed.

"I won't help you with anything if you insult me like that," she said, narrowing her eyes and smirking evilly.

"Actually," Fred said, "don't worry about it. I changed my mind. I'm going to try to cook something all on my own. You don't have to do anything. "

"Are you sure? I was only kidding, you know that right? I don't mind helping."

"Positive," Fred said, standing up. He grabbed her hands and pulled her up as well.

"I'll have my wand ready just in case I need to put out any fires," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'll even stand by the faucet so I can have it within reach to use as backup."

"Do you seriously doubt me that much?" Fred asked, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Where cooking is concerned, yes," she answered.

"You haven't ever seen me cook or-,"

"Exactly," Cassie interrupted. "I never see you, which means you don't do it a lot."

"Maybe I cook when we're not together. Did you ever think of that?" Fred smiled, enjoying their playful argument.

"So, when was the last time you cooked anything?"

"This morning I made cereal."

"Cereal doesn't count. Anyone can make cereal. I meant when did you last seriously cook something?"

"Er," Fred said, scrunching his nose up in thought.

"That's what I thought," Cassie laughed.

"You just wait," Fred said, kissing her nose. "I'll show you."

"I'll still wait by the faucet with my wand ready," Cassie answered, following him to the kitchen.

"If it makes you happy," Fred said, sighing dramatically.

Cassie laughed and swatted his shoulder.

"Just you wait," Fred told her again. "You're going to be surprised."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Cassie said. "By the way, may I ask what you're making?"

"I'm not sure yet," Fred answered, blushing slightly. "I kind of made sure I had a lot of different things ready since I didn't know what you would want. What do you want?"

"Surprise me," Cassie said, taking a spot by the sink and leaning against the counter.

"Are you sure? You don't think I surprised you enough today?" He winked at her over his shoulder from where he was looking through the cabinets.

Cassie just shrugged and smiled. "I suppose I'd better get used to surprises because the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life with is full of them."

"You got that right," Fred answered with a laugh.

* * *

><p>"What time are your parents supposed to get here, Cassie?" Mrs. Weasley asked, quickly moving around the kitchen as she prepared dinner.<p>

"They'll be here within the next twenty minutes," Cassie assured her as she leaned against the counter next to Fred. "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"I'm positive. Why don't you go into the living room with everyone else? You don't have to stay here with me."

"If you don't want any help, we can at least keep you company," Cassie said. She didn't have a problem with that, and truthfully, staying in the kitchen with a busy Mrs. Weasley would increase the chances of Cassie's engagement ring going unnoticed. It had been difficult enough trying to hide it while she had been greeting everyone. Anyway, unnoticed was just the way she wanted it, at least until her parents arrived and everyone was in one room together. That's what she and Fred had in mind and they were hoping it would go smoothly, without anyone noticing Cassie's ring before they were supposed to.

Fred had brought up the idea to his mother about having Cassie's parents over for dinner the Sunday after the engagement had happened. He said that it would be nice for the two families to meet, which was the truth since they would becoming in-laws soon. They just didn't know it yet.

"Well, if you really want to," Mrs. Weasley said, throwing a glance their way that was accompanied by a small smile.

"Sure and if there's anything we can do, just let us know," Cassie said. She took a seat at the table and Fred sat next to her.

"Nervous?" he whispered in her ear as he gently traced circles into her knee.

"A little," she said. "How do you think your family will react?"

"They'll be thrilled. Mum will badger us with questions all night."

"Questions about what?"

"About the wedding, of course. She'll want to start planning right away, so I'd prepare myself if I were you. What about your parents?"

"I'm not sure. I think my mum will be more excited than my dad at first. He'll be happy, don't get me wrong, but since I'm their only child and their only girl, it'll be harder for them, my dad especially, to get used to the idea."

"He's not going to go crazy protective father on me, is he?" Fred asked, half joking.

"Doubt it," Cassie answered. "He just might try to intimidate you for the rest of the night. You know, glares, questions, stuff like that. But then he'll get over it, so don't stress about it too much."

Fred nodded and slid his hand over to Cassie's, which was lying in the middle of her lap. He tilted it back and forth so that the ring caught some of the light, despite the fact that their hands were under the table.

"What are you looking at?" asked a voice from the doorway. Fred and Cassie both jumped and turned. It was Ginny.

"Nothing," Cassie said quickly, sticking her hand under her thigh. "Fred had just commented on how small my hands were compared to his. I mean, he has the long, thin fingers and mine are-,"

"They aren't short and fat, if that's what you're trying to get at," Fred interrupted, stopping her mid-rant.

Cassie gave him a weird look and he just shrugged and gave her a look that clearly said he had panicked at Ginny's sudden appearance.

"Whatever," Ginny said, rolling her eyes and laughing. "Who wants a butterbeer?"

Cassie and Fred both agreed to one and Ginny headed to the fridge, stopping to peer over her mother's shoulder at the stove on the way. "Anyway, I'm sorry I asked what you were doing. It wasn't anything interesting anyway."

"Shows how much she knows," Fred whispered with a smirk.

"What was that?" Ginny asked loudly. She rummaged around in the fridge and pulled out three butterbeers. "I'm not deaf, you know."

"I didn't say anything, so maybe you are," Fred answered innocently. He smiled as Ginny passed out the drinks. He continued to smile as he opened his and took a long drink, his eyes never leaving his sister.

Ginny rolled her eyes and leaned up against the fridge. "So, when are you two getting married?"

Cassie nearly choked on her drink and Fred actually did choke on his. "Why do you ask that?" he managed to say as Cassie patted his back.

"I'm just wondering," Ginny shrugged. "You seem so in love, I just thought…" she trailed off and shrugged again. "What was that reaction for? You acted as if the idea was marriage was crazy."

"No, it's just that it was so out of the blue," Cassie answered. She looked at Fred, whose eyes were still comically wide at the irony of Ginny's question.

Just then, there was a popping sound from outside, followed by a knock on the door. The voices in the living room grew louder before there was the sound of the door opening and two more voices joining in.

"That'll be my parents," Cassie said.

"Oh, good, right on time." Mrs. Weasley smiled cheerily and wiped her hands on her apron before taking it off, putting it over the back of her chair and hurrying into the living room. "Ginny, make sure you come and say hello," she called over her shoulder.

"No, mum, I refuse to say hello to Cassie's parents," Ginny answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Mrs. Weasley stuck her head back into the kitchen and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "Now," was all she said before leaving once more.

"Well, I guess that's my cue," Ginny said. She smiled and placed her butterbeer on the counter before following her mother.

"We should go, too," Cassie said, standing up and taking Fred's hand.

"Our secret's almost out," Fred said as he stood.

"I thought Ginny knew something at first," Cassie said, widening her eyes.

"So did I, but it was just a close call. Hopefully we can make it at least until dinner without any more."

"Hopefully," Cassie agreed with a nod.

She wasn't sure how, but Cassie managed to keep her ring unnoticed by anyone as she greeted her parents and made the introductions. She even managed to keep it hidden through the entire meal that Mrs. Weasley had prepared. It was times like these when she was grateful that she was right handed.

"That was delicious, Mum, but I'm stuffed," Ron said, leaning back happily in his chair once everyone had finished eating.

"Too stuffed for dessert?" George gasped.

"Ron's never too full for dessert," Bill added, leaning over to pat Ron's stomach. "What is for dessert, by the way?"

"Apple pie," Mrs. Weasley answered, standing up to clear the dishes.

Cassie and Fred shared a look, remembering the night they first started dating and the slice of apple pie they had shared.

"Cassie's favorite," her dad said with a smile as her mother stood to help Mrs. Weasley.

"It's one of Fred's favorites as well, isn't it?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking over her shoulder at her son.

"Yeah, it is. In fact, on the day I asked Cassie to be my girlfriend, we shared a slice of apple pie. I just got a slice assuming she'd like it and she asked me what I would have done if she didn't. I said I would have eaten it all by myself."

"I don't doubt that," Mrs. Weasley said as everyone laughed.

Fred squeezed Cassie's hand under the table and she knew he was trying to lead up to the big news, so she joined in. "Yeah, it's hard to believe that was a little over a year ago. It seems like it was just yesterday, doesn't it Fred?" She looked up and smiled at him. It was almost a half smirk. They hadn't really planned out how they were going to break the news to everyone and right now they were just improvising, and it was fun to go back and forth with him.

"Yeah, it does. It all went by so fast, but at the same time it almost didn't go by fast enough."

Cassie looked up and caught George's eye over Fred's shoulder. He had an encouraging smile on his face.

"What do you mean, Fred?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I just mean that I loved getting to know Cassie more and more each day, spending more time with her, falling more in love with her, and becoming more comfortable with her."

"Comfortable enough that on Friday, he asked me to marry him," Cassie said, finally getting the news right out in the open.

Her words were met with complete and utter silence. She looked up nervously to see every occupant of the room staring right at her and Fred with wide eyes.


	27. Chapter 27

"_You make me wanna say I do," –__**I Do (Colbie Caillat)**_

* * *

><p>The silence continued for a moment longer, but it seemed like forever until Fred broke it.<p>

"Somebody please say something," he whispered. He sounded almost nervous.

His words were met with a second wave of silence, but it was only a little while before Mrs. Weasley dropped a spoon she was holding. It clattered to the floor and that seemed to finally break the silence for good as everyone began to talk at once.

"He what?"

"I knew it!"

"Congratulations!"

"Did you say yes?"

"Obviously she did, Ron."

"Well, I didn't notice a ring."

"Where _is_ the ring?"

"Yes, let us see it."

Cassie pulled her left hand out of Fred's grasp and held it up. Every pair of eyes was drawn to it and a gasp escaped the mouths of every girl at the table.

"Cass, it's lovely," her mother whispered, examining it carefully.

"George helped me to pick it out," Fred said proudly, glancing at his twin, whose grin widened, if that were even possible.

"Well you did a fantastic job," Mrs. Weasley said, leaning over Cassie's mother's shoulder.

"Married," her dad finally said.

"Caught up, have you, Dad?" Cassie asked with a small smile.

"Aren't you a little young?" he asked, staring at both Cassie and Fred with an intent, fatherly look.

"Well, we're twenty two, sir," Fred said politely.

"I know how old you are, but—but-." He didn't seem to know how to finish his sentence.

"They're only a year younger than we were when we got married," Cassie's mother said quietly with a small smile. "Don't worry so much. It'll be fine."

"But married," Cassie's dad croaked out. "My little girl."

"You are happy, aren't you?" Cassie asked, biting her lip. Fred looked at her and she looked so nervous about her dad's reaction that his heart almost broke. He knew that she wanted her dad to approve so badly.

Her dad took a moment to answer, but he finally broke into a grin and nodded. "Of course I'm happy. I'm happy if you're happy. I'm just a little shocked. I'll get used to it."

"Thanks, dad," Cassie said quietly and Fred could tell she was breathing a quiet sigh of relief.

"Well, come on then," Mrs. Weasley said. "Everyone into the living room. We have wedding plans to discuss."

At once, everyone stood up to move into the next room. "What about the apple pie?" Ron asked over the noise.

"We'll bring it with us," Mrs. Weasley declared. "It's not glued to the counter, is it?" With a smile and a wave of her wand, she levitated the pie so that it floated after them into the living room.

* * *

><p>Eight months, lots of flowers, and one wedding dress later, Cassie stood in Ginny's room at the Burrow. It was her wedding day. Finally, after all the stress and planning, it was here. She was getting married. After today, she would be moving into the flat with Fred and George and she would be selling the house she had previously lived in, but most importantly, after today she was going to be Mrs. Fred Weasley.<p>

"Are you going to put the dress on or just stare at it all day?" Ginny asked from the other side of the room. The redhead was sitting at her vanity, pinning a small, purple daisy into her hair, just above her ear as she looked at Cassie in the mirror.

"Put it on, of course," Cassie whispered, but she still didn't make any move to take the dress off the hanger.

Giving her hair one last fluff, Ginny sighed and stood up. She crossed the room and pulled the dress off of the hanger. "Come on, we don't have all day. Fred's waiting." She smirked at Cassie, who felt her stomach do a happy little flip. Ginny helped Cassie into the dress and they stood in front of the full length mirror hanging on the wall next to the dresser. "Beautiful," Ginny said.

"If you mean you, then yes," Cassie said, turning one way and then the other to look at herself.

Ginny frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Oh, stop. You look stunning. Now, sit so I can do your hair." She pointed to the vanity and Cassie obediently did as she said. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Leave it down and curl it," Cassie said at once. She had been planning her hairstyle for months so that she knew exactly what she wanted.

"You got it," Ginny said with a smile as she picked up a strand of Cassie's reddish brown hair.

When she finished curling it, Ginny circled Cassie and examined her handiwork. "Thanks, Ginny," Cassie said. "It looks great."

Ginny nodded, satisfied with her work. "It was no trouble."

There was a soft knock at the door before it was opened a crack by Cassie's mother, who had her eyes closed. "Is it okay to come in?"

"Yeah, we just finished getting ready, Mum, Cassie said quietly, still staring at her reflection in the mirror. She also could see her mother's reflection and she saw her open her eyes and smile across the room at her daughter as tears began to fall down her face.

Cassie turned in her seat and smiled back. "Hi, Mum," she whispered.

"Stand up, so I can see you properly," her mother said.

Cassie did as her mother told her and gave a little twirl. "What do you think?"

"Doesn't she look wonderful?" Ginny asked.

"Better than wonderful," Cassie's mother sighed, wiping her eyes. They all sat in a comfortable silence for a moment before Cassie's mother smiled widely. "Well, if you're ready, we'd better head downstairs."

"I'm ready," Cassie said, taking a deep breath.

"Well, let's go," her mother answered. She led the way out the door and down the stairs, Ginny and Cassie following close behind.

Cassie had agreed to have the wedding at the Burrow, which had a large, beautiful yard that was just perfect for a wedding and the entire Weasley family had been working extra hard to make sure it looked just so. Cassie had chosen purple as the color of her flowers and as the color of the dress Ginny, her maid of honor, would wear.

"Don't look so nervous," Ginny laughed once they had reached the living room. She and Cassie's mother busied themselves adjusting the skirt of Cassie's dress so that it flared out around her.

"I'm not that nervous," Cassie said, looking down at her hands. It came out in a whisper.

"And I'm not a redhead," Ginny said sarcastically. She let out a small laugh. "Seriously, I'm not stupid, Cass. I can tell you're nervous."

"Relax, dear," her mother added. "You'll be fine. You look beautiful and it's your wedding day."

"Yeah, even if you trip halfway down the aisle, nobody will care because you're the bride," Ginny said.

"Ginny," Cassie groaned.

"Sorry," Ginny said quickly.

"Are we—oh, Cass, you look wonderful." Cassie's dad had just come into the room from outside and he was standing by the door with a look on his face that said how he was feeling. "I can't believe it. I could've sworn it was just yesterday that you were crawling around in diapers and now you've got a book published and you're about to get married."

"Yeah," Cassie whispered. She didn't know what else to say. Her father was right. A lot was happening to her but at least now it was all good things.

"Any chance that we can freeze time?" her father asked with a shrug and a smile.

"I don't think you'd really want to do that, Dad," Cassie said quietly, smiling back.

"You're right, I don't," he agreed. "I want you to get married. And more importantly, I want you to be happy."

"I am happy," she said.

"I know you are," he whispered, stepping forward and kissing her forehead. "You could have been marrying Josh and I would have been happy for you if you were happy."

"Seriously?" Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow as her mother and Ginny laughed.

"Well, okay, I would have had to force myself, but I'd have tried to be happy," her dad responded, laughing as well.

"It's okay. You know I wasn't truly happy with Josh anyway."

"Thankfully," her dad smiled.

"It's time to get started," her mother said, giving Cassie's dress one last bit of adjusting before straightening up, giving Cassie a hug and heading outside. Ginny went next and Cassie followed her, arm in arm with her dad. They stood at the entrance to the tent that had been set up last week and Cassie nervously stared straight ahead at the closed tent flap covering the entrance.

"Hey," her dad whispered. She looked up to see him smiling at her. "Honestly, don't be so nervous. You're about to get married to a man that really loves you. There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I know. I'm not nervous about marrying Fred. I'm just nervous about-," she stopped and took a breath and let it out, "I don't even know. I actually think I'm more anxious than nervous."

Her father nodded silently as the music started. He patted her hand. "It's nearly time."

Ginny threw Cassie a smile over her shoulder before stepping out into the tent. Cassie tightened her grip on her father's arm. "Let's do this," she whispered.

Her dad patted her hand. "Loosen your grip just a little, honey or else you're going to cut off the circulation in my arm."

"Sorry," she whispered as the music grew slightly louder. Cassie took one last deep breath as her father pushed away the tent flap and began to lead her down the aisle.

Immediately, Cassie's eyes found Fred, standing at the other end of the aisle, waiting for her. His eyes were on her as well and Cassie felt herself smiling at the look on his face. Seeing Fred helped to calm her down and once she finally reached him, she felt all of her anxious feelings disappear completely.

She gave her father a kiss on the cheek before stepping closer to Fred and taking his hand. He was still grinning at her. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey yourself," she whispered back, giving him a smile.

Together, they turned to the front of the tent, where the Ministry wizard was preparing to start. Cassie gave Fred's hand a squeeze and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She saw him glance at her and they both smiled at each other. This was it. They were finally getting married.

* * *

><p>"You may now kiss your bride," the Ministry wizard announced after what seemed like an eternity later. It was the moment both Cassie and Fred had really been waiting for; the moment when it would all be official.<p>

Fred's grin widened even more as he and Cassie turned towards each other. He grasped her hand loosely in his, bringing his other hand to her cheek as he pressed a kiss to her lips. He could hear the wedding guests clapping and cheering and he could hear George wolf whistling, but only vaguely. Everything and everyone besides Cassie had been pushed to the back of Fred's mind for the moment.

When they broke apart, Fred moved his hand from Cassie's cheek to her shoulder and slid it down her arm until he was grasping her hand. Now he was holding both of her hands and another grin spread over his lips as he looked down at her.

Almost at once, a crowd formed around the two of them, preventing Fred from saying a word to Cassie, which was truthfully what he wanted to do more than anything. Instead, he politely thanked the numerous people who came to congratulate him and then posed for a few pictures his mother and Cassie's mother insisted on taking. Only after that was done did he have the chance to actually talk to Cassie.

"So," he grinned as he led her out to the dance floor. He seemed to be doing a lot of grinning lately. Not that he minded, of course.

"So what?" she asked, a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth and a twinkle appearing in her eye.

"How does it feel to be Mrs. Fred Weasley?"

"Well, I've only been married to you for about fifteen minutes…" Cassie trailed off and smirked at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Fred put his hands on her waist and they began to dance.

"So? How were those fifteen minutes? Were they the best fifteen minutes of your life?"

"Oh, by far," Cassie laughed.

"That's what I thought," Fred answered.

Cassie giggled and brought one of her hands to Fred's face, brushing a piece of hair out of his eyes. "You know, I've always liked your hair this length."

"It used to be this length for a while, but then I cut it. I grew it out again to match George's. He grew his out to cover his missing ear."

Cassie nodded seriously. "Could you tell?" she asked in a whisper. "When George lost his ear, I mean. Did you know something was wrong?"

Fred didn't answer right away. He readjusted his hands on Cassie's waist, pulling her closer. "Sort of," he answered finally. "It was crazy and my dad and I were trying to get to the Burrow while fighting off Death Eaters and I just felt this intense wave of panic. Not that I wasn't panicking already, but it just got worse and I got this weird feeling, instinctual, I guess, that something was wrong. That one of us was hurt."

Cassie nodded again. "I'm sorry I brought it up. You don't want to think about that today. Today, you should be happy."

"Don't worry," Fred said, "I am happy."

"So am I," Cassie whispered, resting her head against his chest.

* * *

><p>"Well, this is the last box," Cassie said, climbing the last few steps to the flat and kicking the door shut with her foot. She, Fred and George had just moved her things from her house to the flat.<p>

"Good, because I'm beat," George said, flopping onto the couch.

"When are you not?" Fred snorted.

"There weren't even that many boxes," Cassie scolded with a laugh.

"Yeah, but they were heavy. It's like you packed bricks," George answered.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she lugged the box in her hands to Fred's bedroom. The door was closed, so she tried to open it with the side of her hand, almost dropping the box in the process.

"Easy there," Fred said, appearing almost out of nowhere and steadying the box.

"Thanks," Cassie said, blushing slightly and letting out a giggle.

Fred laughed and kissed her forehead, pushing the door open enough for her to walk inside. "I'll go get more boxes and help you unpack."

"Okay," Cassie agreed, stepping into the room. She put the box on the floor and put her hands on her hips as she looked around.

"I know it's not much," Fred said, appearing in the doorway with another box. "Sharing a flat with me and George, I mean. It's not an actual house, but…" he trailed off.

"No, I love it," she argued.

"I moved some of my stuff out of the dresser so now there are two drawers for me and two for you. Half of the closet's yours as well. Like I said, it's not a lot."

"It's perfect," Cassie said, sinking to her knees to open the box at her feet. Behind her, she heard Fred opening another box.

Cassie stood up again, a picture from her wedding in her hands, and crossed the room to the nightstand. She set the frame down and smiled to herself.

"Ah, what should we do with this?" Fred asked. Cassie turned and saw Fred holding up the frame containing the napkin and the Sickle.

"Out there," Cassie gestured to the door, "where we'll always be able to see it."

She followed Fred down the hallway and into the living room where George was still lounging on the couch, flipping through a broomstick magazine. "Finished unpacking so soon?" he asked.

"Hardly started," Cassie shook her head. "We just wanted to hang this up." She gestured to the frame in Fred's hands.

"Ah," George said, standing up and tossing the magazine aside. "Where?"

"Somewhere out here," Fred answered, looking around.

"Why not down in the back room of the shop?" George asked. He looked at Fred. "You and I are always down there and if Cassie's going to help us like she agreed to…" he trailed off and smirked at Cassie, who laughed.

"Of course I'll help you," she said. "I did agree to it, if you remember, as long as you make the food during the lunch break."

"Oh that's right," George said with a dramatic sigh. "I suppose that's fair"

"I'll say it is," Fred agreed.

"You stay out of this," George joked, poking Fred's arm.

"So, where are we hanging this?" Cassie asked, tapping the frame with her finger in an attempt to get the twins back on track.

"Is the back room okay with you?" Fred asked.

"If it's okay with you," Cassie said.

Fred nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Well, come on then," George said. He led the way down the stairs to the back room where the three of them chose a spot to hang the frame. When they did, Fred and George hung it up, while Cassie stood back and supervised, making sure they were hanging it straight.

"A little to the left," she said. "Now move the right side down a little. No, that's too much. That's perfect."

"Yeah?" Fred asked. "You're sure?"

"Positive," Cassie grinned, clapping her hands together.

Fred and George finished hanging the frame and then stood back to admire their work. When Fred reached her, Cassie slung an arm around his waist and he put an arm around her shoulders. "Come here, George," Cassie said, gesturing with her free hand. George smiled and stepped closer. Cassie put her free arm around him and the three of them stood there, staring at the newly hung frame.

"I love it," Fred said, breaking the silence. He nuzzled Cassie's hair with his cheek.

"So do I," she whispered.

"Me too," George added.

Fred gave a small chuckle. "You have no reason to love it," he joked.

"Of course I do," George answered.

"Yeah? What is it?" Fred asked, raising an eyebrow.

George thought for a moment. "I'm not sure yet, but I'll think of a reason."

"You do that," Fred laughed.

"Yeah, I will," George said. He broke away from Cassie and Fred and headed for the stairs. "I'll go do that right now."

"He's going back to look at his broomstick magazine," Fred whispered as George disappeared up the stairs.

"I don't doubt it," Cassie giggled. She turned her face into Fred's chest to stifle it.

"What do you say we go finish the unpacking?" Fred asked.

"Sure," she agreed. "I'll race you." With that, she took off up the stairs.

"No fair, you got a head start," Fred laughed as he ran after her.

* * *

><p>"Are you coming to bed?" Fred asked. He had just walked into his bedroom to see Cassie standing at the open window, looking outside.<p>

"Yeah," she said quietly, "but come look at this."

"Look at what?" he asked, joining her. He rested his hands on the windowsill and stuck his head outside.

"It's your second favorite constellation," Cassie said, smiling and pointing at the sky, where, sure enough, the Cassiopeia constellation was visible.

Fred smiled. "W for Weasley," he whispered. Cassie cleared her throat. "And the constellation that inspired your name," he added.

"Better," Cassie whispered. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning and heading for bed.

Fred shut the window before crawling into bed next to her. He leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Goodnight," he whispered. Even in the dark, he knew Cassie was smiling.

"Goodnight," she whispered back, leaning in to kiss him once more.

"Two goodnight kisses," Fred said, leaning back into his pillows. "I think I'm going to like being married to you."

Cassie swatted him. "Go to bed," she ordered.

"Or maybe I won't," Fred joked.

Cassie swatted him again and rolled her eyes before snuggling under the covers. She made herself comfortable on her stomach and rested one hand on Fred's chest. "I love you," she said, her voice quiet with sleep.

"I love you too, Cass," Fred answered. He kissed the top of her head before closing his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was married to this amazing girl that he once believed was crazy for putting all of her trust in a silly thing like fate. Fred had always been one to believe that people learn new things ever day and if Cassie had taught him anything, it was that sometimes things do happen for a reason and sometimes, trusting in something that you're unsure of can have surprising results.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, this is the last chapter. :( I hope everyone likes it. I've had a lot of fun writing this story and I'm sad it's over. Anyway, if you liked it, feel free to leave a review! **

**Also, the poll for the Twin Exchange challenge went up today. I wrote a one shot for it and if you want, feel free to go read it and vote for it. (There's a link in my profile). **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or favorited this story. It really means a lot :)**


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